In Paper Boats
by SkyandIris
Summary: Kate Beckett has personal experience when it comes to the comparison of Richard Castle to a nine year old on a sugar rush.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm kind of antsy about posting this, but I'm just going to take a leap here. I haven't written anything this big in a while, and I probably need to brush up on a lot of skills. I hope you guys don't hate this, it's certainly a bit AU and I know some people might not like it all that much. I hope it makes sense. Anyways, without further adieu, here is: **In Paper Boats**

_In someone else's past_  
><em>I boast<em>  
><em>And fold my hope<em>  
><em>In paper boats<em>

**2001**

Just 24 hours ago, Katherine Beckett would never have guessed that one simple word would change her life forever. Two syllables, 8 letters.

Pregnant.

Her best friend nearly bought the local drug store out of pregnancy tests before she was willing to believe that she, Katie Beckett, 21 year old Dean's List student with a 4.0 GPA, would end up sitting on the bathroom floor of her apartment, holding a stick that proved that one single word, defining the rest of her existence.

_Pregnant._

The word seemed to reverberate mockingly inside of her head, taunting her until the sound of her best friend's voice in her ear brought her out of the stunned trance she had fallen into.

"Girl, are you okay?" the worried voice repeated, laced with genuine concern.

Tilting her head back to prevent any more tears from falling, Kate managed to quaver out a small, unconvincing "I'm fine."

Lanie Parish let out an audible sigh as she tried, and failed, to imagine what her friend was going through at that moment. "It'll all work out, honey. I know it will."

"Yeah," Kate said weakly, her phone cradled between her shoulder and her ear as her hands rested lightly on her flat stomach. The tile floor was uncomfortable, but getting up meant facing the music, dealing with the fact that her boyfriend, the same one whom she had called a simple distraction only weeks earlier, was now in this mess with her. She hadn't seen the relationship going much further than it already had, but she wondered how this announcement would faze the other occupant of the off-campus apartment. She silently cursed the tiny _3%_ written on the wrapper of every single condom they had used in recent weeks.

The sound of the rain outside slightly calmed her, reminding her of the dreary Manhattan days with her father. He would help her put on her coat and rainboots and shelter her under his umbrella, a paper bag tucked under his arms as they walked through every puddle. It was days like these when Jim and Katie Beckett would venture out to a secluded area of Riverside Park and hold tiny, origami paper boats with wishes written on them, releasing them to the river's power. For sunny days. For green frosting. For strawberry ice cream and for happy memories. It was the rainy days when she missed her father's warm presence the most, joining the ever-present ache for her mother in her heart.

Ignoring the sound of Lanie's voice still in her ear, Kate's attention focused on the foreboding sound of the front door opening, closing, and the familiar footfalls of her boyfriend as he called out for her.

"Lane, he's back from class. I have to go!" Kate whispered harshly into the phone, flushing the empty toilet and twisting the faucet as she called out to him in reply.

The pre-med student on the other end of the phone sighed. "You have to tell him, you know. This is big news. Not, like, _I stole the answer key to my exam _big. This is world-changing, _drum roll please _big."

"I _know _this is huge, which is why I need to wait for the right time to tell him. I can't just drop a bomb on him like this, it's the end of the year and we both have finals to worry about. This is enough to make anyone flunk."

"Kate. You need to tell him. He deserves to know." Lanie reasoned, unable to fathom the turmoil Kate was experiencing.

Kate began to weakly argue. "I want to go to the doctor first. I don't want to tell him if it's a mistake. Especially after our fight last weekend." She had finally admitted to him that she planned on joining the police academy instead of attending law school, and her boyfriend had been less than pleased. Apparently, dating a law student sounded much more appealing than her chosen alternative.

"Come on, now. You're pre-law for Christ's sake. What are the chances of getting _two _false positives in a row?"

"You know, I'd really love to be that one in ten billion right now." Kate said darkly, biting her raw lips for the millionth time with a wince.

Comfortingly, Lanie whispered "I know, sweetie. I know."

"I have to tell him." Sighed Kate, counting down the seconds until he would be in earshot and when she'd have to finally end the hours-long call.

"You do." she agreed.

"Okay. I can do this. Right?"

"Of course you can. Call me as soon as possible. I love you."

"Love you too, Lanie." Pressing the end button, she took what seemed like her thousandth deep breath since the day had taken this unlikely turn and pulled herself up from the floor. Her trembling hands clutched the end of the counter as she studied her pallid yet blotchy complexion. In a quick attempt to seem presentable, she scrubbed her face and applied a small amount of concealer before coating her dry lips with chapstick and tried to focus on remembering the entire periodic table.

Kate opened the bathroom door and met the gray eyes of her boyfriend, who was untying his shoelaces on the edge of the bed. She could feel the weight of a single positive test in the front of her hooded sweatshirt. The rain seemed to drip mockingly down the window across from her. She idly thought that he must have opened the curtains when he entered the room. She had been unable to stand having the outside world glaring in her face while sitting in apprehension, wondering about what she now knew to be true. About the life that would make her plural.

"Hey," she said softly, the dread for the impending conversation weighing down on her.

"Hey yourself." eyes raking over her, he sensed that something was troubling her. "Everything okay?"

Kate inhaled deeply and stared at the floor, steeling herself for whatever his reaction may be. "No, not really. I…God." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm pregnant."

The smooth sound of his laugh echoed through the small apartment. "Wow, Kate, I thought I bought you a calendar after you got the late fees for all those books you forgot about. April Fools Day was yesterday, remember?"

Out of nowhere, Kate felt heat spread through her entire body. "I'm not fucking around here, you asshole!" she seethed as she flung the test from her pocket at him. Her eyes blazed as she watched his face slowly pale. Then, the anger quickly draining out of her, she dropped her eyes back to the floor. It was silent for several minutes before Kate had the courage to meet his eyes again. She was a little stunned when she realized there was no single emotion behind them as he dropped the test and returned to untying his shoes.

"Well?" she asked hesitantly, clueless as to why he was being so calm. She was prepared for denial, shock, even anger, but this cool indifference was totally unexpected.

"Well what?" his pale gray eyes met her green ones once more. "It's not like you're keeping it, right?" When Kate remained silent, his eyes widened. "Kate. Be real here. You're barely in your twenties. We're both full time students, there's no way in hell we could raise a baby _and _keep up with both of our educations. No offense, but you're not really housewife material, even if you could afford to just stay at home with it. I've got med school to worry about! What about my career? What about yours? You gonna cart around a toddler to internships and job interviews?" he paused, as if pondering something before he continued. "Well, once you've come to your senses about that whole cop thing. Honestly, Katie, what is going on with you? Can you imagine us both going through school with a screaming, needy kid?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders silently, her eyes focusing on a picture of her and her mother on their dresser as she fought back the tears and the lump in her throat. Her mother was in a cemetary on the other side of town and her father was more than likely passed out drunk in any number of seedy bars that dotted the area. Neither of them could reassure their daughter that this was the right thing to do.

He shook his head at her and sighed, asking "Does Lanie know?" even though he knew that the two women shared everything soon after he introduced them. "You should ask her if she knows where you can get a safe abortion."

His words seem to shake her out of her stupor. Her compusure regained, she furiously ended that line of thinking. "I will not _abort _our baby."

"It's not _our _baby." he fired back coldly. "Were you not listening to anything that I've been saying? If you're actually going to keep it, you're more stupid than I thought."

Kate raised her chin defiantly, the anger returning full force before she managed to spit out "And you're nothing more than a coward."

He studied her for a long moment before he shook his head and stood. "Then be that way, Katie. Don't come crying to me when you can't feed the damn thing and study at the same time. I want nothing to do with this idiocy." He said calmly, wiping his hands on his pants and standing up. "If you'll step out for a few, I can have all of my things packed up within the hour."

And just like that, she realized she was going to be alone in this. She had been raised Catholic, and even though most of the lessons she learned in weekly Catechism had been lost between boys that smelled like wet flannel and the taste of tequila and skin, she had never been able to reconcile with herself the idea that she would be able to end a life after creating it. Her fingers shook as she contemplated her options, only realizing that he was still expecting her to leave when he cleared his throat awkwardly. She stumbled over her heavy feet to the door and made it all the way down to the street before even realizing she was still clad in her pajamas and the only thing on her feet was a thin pair of socks. She had left both her coat and her keys in the kitchen, but thankfully her phone had been tucked away before her emotions had shut down proper brain function. She reached into her pocket, uselessly trying to hold in her tears as she pressed the number of the only person who she could seemingly count on.

"Lanie," she choked out between sobs. "I don't think I can do this alone."

XxXxXxXxX

**2010**

"Jonah Malcolm Beckett, if your scrawny little butt isn't out of bed, they will _never _find your body." Kate Beckett yelled as she stormed down the hallway to her son's bedroom. She flung his door open to find him burrowed underneath a mountain of blankets and pillows, his head barely poking out somewhere around where his feet should've been. He winced his mother turned on the light and groaned out. "_Mooom."_

"Don't 'Mom' me, kiddo. Your alarm has been going off for the last 10 minutes and it's been driving me absolutely _nuts_." Kate complained as she yanked the blankets off his bed and walked across the hallway into the bathroom to turn on the shower.

"I'm sick?" Jonah tried, knowing before the words even came out that it was a lost cause.

Kate, quite accustomed to the claim, rolled her eyes and pulled his resisting body into a sitting position before making him stand and pushing him into the bathroom. "Shower." she ordered, handing him a towel. "And don't try to fall asleep in there again, if you're not downstairs in fifteen minutes I'm going to tell Maxie that Mrs. Hurst is going to stay with you tomorrow instead." At that, the nine year old's eyes widened in horror as he pulled his baggy NYPD shirt off and shooed his mother into the hall. The elderly woman who lived next door liked to spend her days hoarsely swearing at her cat and monitering the cleanliness and politeness of anyone that crossed her way. She was only used as a last resort, when Lanie and her former neighbor's 18-year-old cousin Maxie, were both unavailable. "I'd rather kiss a broken bottle." Jonah muttered as he stepped under the hot spray of the shower.

Exactly 12 minutes later, he materialized in the kitchen, his soaked hair dripping onto his shoulders. Noticing Kate standing near the plugged-in waffle iron, he turned his wide green eyes on her and smiled as he sat at the counter.

Kate took notice of the familiar, hopeful look and braced herself as she set down his plate. "What do you want, Joh?"

"Ice cream?" he asked winningly, glancing down at the warm waffle that had been placed in front of him.

She shook her head. "No ice cream before noon, remember?" Although in special circumstances she sometimes waived this rule, but right now was no special occasion and no amount of puppy dog eyeing from her son would budge her.

"Please, mom?" Jonah begged. "Ice cream is to waffles like Kenny is to getting_ killed_!"

At that, Kate laughed. "I don't know whether to be more disturbed to the fact that you watch South Park or that you just made a simile."

Jonah grinned mischievously as his mother ran a finger through his damp brown locks. "You need a haircut, buddy." she said absentmindedly, studying the slight curls as a peculiar smell filled the kitchen. Jonah's eyes widened as he recognized the smell. "Mom! Your waffle!"

"Oh, shit!" Kate realized, turning around to see smoke beginning to rise from between the irons. She raced forward to grab it without thinking, burning her hand in the process. "Fuck!" she cried, yanking her right arm back while unplugging the iron with her left.

Once her hand had been run under cool water and the burnt waffle had been disposed of, Jonah assumed a grave look and shook his head disapprovingly at his mother. "You said shit _and _fuck, mom."

Kate rolled her eyes and pulled open the freezer, grabbing the ice cream scoop from a drawer and plopping a dollop of vanilla on top of his waffle. "Don't tell that to your friends," she reminded him. "It'll make me look bad."

"The swearing or the ice cream for breakfast?" Jonah asked sweetly, triumphantly taking a bite.

"Both." Kate laughed, stealing his second bite straight off his fork. "Although you'd better not tell child services about this either. They'll probably take you away." she teased.

"Never." he giggled around another mouthful. "What time will Uncle Javi and Uncle Kevin be at school today?" Remembering that the two detectives had been volunteered to accompany a few uniforms to his elementary school's assembly, Kate gave her son a wicked grin. "Bright and early, kiddo. Make sure you give 'em hell for messing with mommy dearest."

Jonah matched her smile and saluted her, all while crossing his fingers under the counter. He was silently hoping that she would never find out who really broke her desk chair ("Too much spinning!" the custodian had declared after seeing the missing wheels, while Jonah, Ryan & Esposito all stood innocently nearby.)

The two Becketts finished their breakfast, and Jonah rinsed the dishes off while Kate arranged them in the dishwasher. Both mother and son jumped in surprise as shrill ring filled the silence of the room.

"I'll get it!" Jonah yelled, nearly dropping a plate as he spun around and dove for the cell phone on the other end of the counter. "Beckett." he answered cheerfully, ignoring the glare from his mother before she inspected the forgotten plate for damage. He listened for a moment before mouthing "It's Grandpa!" and passing the phone, ducking under her arm to finish loading the dishwasher.

While Kate was on the phone, Jonah slipped back into his bedroom to grab his backpack. He knew his mother and grandfather had a rather shaky relationship, despite his mother's attempts to cover up the extent of damage the years of abandonment and indifference had caused. He had gone into rehab shortly before Jonah's 4th birthday, but the relationship she shared with him was much more fragile and timid than the one they had shared when Johanna had been alive. Jonah himself usually enjoyed the company of his grandfather, but always took care to notice how much interaction with him was too difficult for his mother to handle. By the time Jonah had returned to the open front room, Kate had finalized plans for the trio to grab an early dinner followed by a movie later in the week with only an air of resistance. After hanging up, her hands seemed to be magnetically drawn to the chain around her neck. Jonah's smaller fingers entwined with hers as they both reverently touched the ring's stone and he brought both of their hands down to their sides.

Kate smiled at her son and ruffled his hair. "Ready to go, kiddo? If we wait much longer, you'll miss our favorite two detectives putting on a show." She opened the door and let the shaggy haired boy pass under her arm before closing the door firmly behind them and indulging her son in a race down the stairwell.

XxXxXxXxX

"Beckett, to we _really _have to?" Detective Kevin Ryan whined, pouting across the room at his friend and boss. "What if a body drops, huh? You can't just call us out of there! And you'll need us!" Sitting next to Ryan, Detective Javier Esposito was sulking as well, albeit silently as to appear slightly more complacent than his counterpart.

Kate held back a smirk as she looked up from the folder on her desk. "Come on, guys. Jonah's super excited that you two are visiting and already told all of his friends. You wouldn't let my kid down now, would you?"

"_Super excited_." Esposito mumbled under his breath in disbelief, thinking of the mischievous nine year old Baby Beckett who seemed to be able connive and convince better than almost every cop he'd been around. He was clever, that was indisputable, and that was only one of the many traits he had inherited from his mother. His wallet still ached from the misfortunate poker game that had taken place earlier in the month.

"I wonder what Beckett'd think if she knew it was _her_ precious little spawn of evil who spun the wheels off for once." Ryan whispered. Although they both knew that they were asking for trouble by giving into the boy's dare ("See how fast you guys can spin me! I bet you can't even make me dizzy.") Jonah could've at least tried to finagle them out of the school assembly. It was even worse than being put on desk duty, the preferred form of an NYPD time out.

"What was that, Kevi?" Kate called out across the room, interrupting the thoughts of the disgruntled detectives with a grin. Sometimes, messing with them was just a little too much fun. She loved the two men like they were her brothers, both of them serving as surrogate uncles to her son, but the teasing-as-a-form-of-affection thing never got old.

"Nothing, _Katie. _Just planning the perfect way to show our appreciation for our _wonderful _boss." groused Esposito, already dreading the hordes of children who would bombard him with questions and a certain young boy, who would no doubt be enjoying this as much as his mother.

She quickly responded with mocking sarcasm "Oh really now?"

"Yeah, really." Esposito fired back, fighting back a slight smile.

"Should I be expecting a card? Some roses? A back massage, maybe? It'll take some time to get used to this new chair." she contemplated while leaning back into the replacement chair, while Ryan muttered "Yeah, something like that. Maybe something to go with your personality, like a nice, prickly-" he was interrupted by Esposito's foot powerfully kicking his seat over, sending him tumbling to the floor. Kate pressed her hand to her mouth to hold in her laugh as Captain Montgomery poked his head out of his office.

"Detective Ryan, do I need to get maintenance to weld your chair to the ground?" Montgomery asked suspiciously, after realizing no real damage had been done to his precinct. He eyed Beckett's sparkling gaze and Esposito's carefully schooled expression as Ryan stood up.

"No, sir. Just some-just some gravity troubles." he panted, struggling to set his chair upright while maintaining eye contact with the older man.

"Right." said Montgomery. "Well, shouldn't you two be off already? I'm rather certain that Hunter has you scheduled for a 9:30 assembly. We wouldn't want to disappoint some eager kids now, would we?"

Both men grimaced as they assented and grabbed their belongings, but not before shooting Kate another dirty look as she called out "Behave yourself, boys! Don't have too much fun! And don't let my kid embarrass you too much!"

She caught the half-hearted glare from Esposito and the annoyed expression from Ryan before shaking her head with a grin and returning to her paperwork.

XxXxXxXxX


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I've realized that every time I log in with my phone, it reposts a chapter. Not cool.**

XxXxXxXxX

When the call came about Allison Tisdale's body, Kate had been engrossed in making sure every piece of paper would stick to her son's poster board. After an entire roll of scotch tape had failed, she had busted out her tube of gorilla glue while Jonah began cutting out the pictures.

"Another body?" the astute 9 year old asked, tipping his face up in time to watch his mother press the end button. It had been a slow day at the 12th precinct, without a single murder to liven up the dreary atmosphere. However, if that last phone call was any indication, it was about to become an interesting night.

"Yup," Kate popped the last letter, flicking on the faucet to intensely scrub the remnants of glue off of her fingers. Shortly after Christmas when Jonah was four, she had been repairing the eye on his stuffed owl with gorilla glue when she was called in. Without thinking, she grabbed her gun and holster before washing her hands, and she still winced at the memory of having to peel the thick glue off both her fingers and her weapon.

She turned the faucet back off and met the hopeful eyes of her son. "No, you may not come see."

Jonah groaned. "Mom, _please_? I'm almost done with this project and its not even bedtime yet."

"Joh, what's the rule?" Kate reminded sternly, even though a ghost of a smile was on her lips.

Jonah intelligibly mumbled as he rested his chin on his fist, pretending to struggle when his mother pulled down the arm of his shirt, reaching in and tickling under his arm.

Victoriously, Kate shook her head at him. "Still as smooth as the day you were born."

"But what if I never get armpit hair?" he worriedly asked, nervously crumpling the scrap pieces of paper that littered the counter.

Laughing, Kate kissed his forehead. "I don't think we'll have to worry about that, kiddo. You can probably just stick some yarn under there." When Jonah's eyes brightened considerably, getting a sparkle that she knew and recognized not only in her son, but in the mirror as well, she immediately shot him down. "Don't even _think _about busting into my knitting basket, little man."

Jonah rolled his eyes and looked thoughtfully at her. "Aren't you supposed to be checking out some dead guy or something?"

"Dead _girl_," Kate corrected, before exclaiming "Oh, damn it! I need to run over to Mrs. Hurst's to see if she can keep an eye on you."

"You said damn it, mom." Jonah reminded, gluing a picture to his board before smiling angelically up at her.

Sighing, Kate picked her phone back up and pressed a single number. "Hey, Max! On a scale from 1 to brain implosion, how busy are you?"

The petite blonde showed up only 4 minutes later with an armful of books. She wrapped her free arm around Kate in a warm hug. "I'm so glad I was just down the street!" she chirped with a smile. "Calculus is driving me nuts, so any excuse to not study is a good excuse."

After slipping her necklace and watch back on, Kate instructed Maxie, who was currently engrossed in helping Jonah pry his glued fingers apart, to ensure that the poster was finished before he snuck off to his room. She leaned down and kissed him on the nose while he smacked his lips against her chin.

"Be safe, mama bear." He ordered as she adjusted her gun in its holster and smoothed her blouse.

"Always, baby bear." she teased, pressing a kiss to the head of the blonde before grabbing her keys off their hook and sailing out the door.

XxXxXxXxX

Alexis Castle hated these parties. In almost any other situation, she'd find embarrassingly intoxicated floozies amusing, but when those very same floozies were begging her father to place his pen in areas that still made her blush a little to mention, the game changed. Between her father's chest-signing affinity and her grandmother's eye for anything ringless that qualified for a senior discount, these events were more stressful than fun. She felt worse the few times she skipped out, usually sticking to the couch worrying constantly, like a mother whose two children were out past curfew. So she went, carting some homework to attempt while she wasn't keeping a watchful eye on the two most important people in her life.

She studied her father as he effortlessly made his way across the room, his eyes meeting hers and winking before turning his attention back on her former stepmother. By the time he'd crossed the room to order a drink at the bar and plant a kiss on her cheek, he'd signed no less than three books and several more chests.

"Hello, darling." He smiled cheerfully, taking a long sip of champaign as his eyes focused at the other woman at the bar. "Mother." he greeted, with slightly less cheer.

"Richard, darling!" Martha Rodgers bleated, wrapping her son in a tight embrace. "Isn't this party wonderful?"

He stuck his tongue out at his daughter over his mother's shoulder, removing one arm from around Martha to mime shooting himself in the head. Rick smiled at his daughter's scolding look and poorly concealed grin. He'd have to work with her on her horrible poker face.

"So, how's our favorite bloodsucker?" Alexis asked sweetly, shooting a brief glance at Gina.

"Oh, you know." he stated casually. "I'm thinking it may be time for her to head back to her crypt. I'm sure Dracula is missing her dearly."

When Gina's eyes narrowed at him from the other side of the room, both he and Alexis smiled innocently. Neither of them were all that fond of the pushy blonde, but for sanity's sake they put on pleasant facades. Those quickly dropped, however, when Martha spotted a new graying target chatting with a few others and excused herself excitedly.

Staring at the wall, Castle spoke to Alexis. "If I ever get like that, please, for the love of God, put me in a home. Or, better yet, have me committed." She was unable to stop watching her grandmother, schmoozing to the much older man she feared could become another of her future ex-stepgrandfathers.

"Deal." she said without hesitation, wrapping her pinky finger around his.

XxXxXxXxX

Meanwhile, Kate Beckett was striding briskly to her newest crime scene. "Hey, Boss." Esposito greeted grumpily as Kate approached him.

Kate shot him a grin. "Bad day?" she asked guiltlessly, eyes sparkling at him. Her stomach still ached from the laughter she and her son shared as she remembered how Jonah described the variety of incidences that had occurred at Hunter College Elementary that day. She wished she could have seen his face when the snotty son of a Software mogul offered Ryan several grand if he was allowed taze Esposito.

He glared at her half-heartedly. "For some of us." he stated dryly.

"Hmm." Kate looked at him in mock confusion. "I don't know, I think today's been pretty stellar, personally."

Shrugging, Esposito grinned. "Yeah, well, _your_ boss isn't a sadistic psycho."

"Keep that sweet talk up, Esposito, and I'm gonna think you have a crush." Kate teased, as she ducked under the yellow tape that he held up.

While the team did their usual cataloguing and speculating, Kate couldn't shake the nagging feeling that this was all too familiar. "Where have I seen this before?" she whispered to herself, trying to remember every crime movie, TV show, and book she had encountered. Thoughtfully, she said to herself "Roses on her body, sunflowers on her eyes. Roses on her body…_Flowers for your Grave_?"

"What was that?" Ryan asked, lifting his head and staring at her quizzically. Ignoring him, Kate moved closer to study the body.

"Does this look familiar to anyone?" she asked, almost rhetorically, as she circled the table.

"No, but" Esposito began, pausing. "I'm not the one with the thing for freaky ones. Just give me a "Jack-shot-Jill-over-Bill" so I can call it a day."

"Oh, but the freaky ones require more. They reveal more." she said, almost with an air of mystery before raising her voice slightly. "Look at how he left her. Covered, modestly." Kate observed pointedly, studying the two small bullet holes on the victim's chest.

Confused, Ryan spoke up. "So?"

Inhaling deeply, Kate stood up. "So, despite all of the effort, all the preparation, you won't find any evidence of sexual abuse."

"You really get all that from just this?" Esposito asked. From anyone else, it would sound skeptical. A challenge of her intellect. But he knew Kate was good, he'd always known that. But, sometimes, Javier Esposito craved an insight to the mind of a woman whom he both loved and feared. Like an older sister who wasn't afraid to defend her brother against a kid twice her size on the playground.

Knowing that the other detective was merely curious, she spoke again. "This, plus," she hesitated, debating what to reveal to the two men in front of her before speaking. "I've seen this before."

Disbelievingly, Ryan looked at her. "You've seen this before? Where?"

"Roses on her body, sunflowers on her eyes…" she trailed off, hoping for a spark of recognition in either of their eyes. When all she received in return was a few blank looks and darting eyes, she rolled her own eyes before asking sharply "Don't you guys read?"

After returning to the precinct, they found that the mystery novelist's whereabouts were as easy to deduce with a look at the newspaper. The release party for his latest novel was that very night, and Montgomery had sent his detective out on a retrieval mission.

XxXxXxXxX

Shortly after expressing her distaste for her father's flippancy when it came to the flirtatious women, the same ones he seemed to be insulated by, Alexis and Rick settled into a comfortable banter. Her father's humorous observations never failed to make Alexis feel lighthearted.

"See that man over there?" He whispered casually to her, nudging her head towards a rather buff looking guy.

Looking up from her book, she spotted the man in question and asked "Yeah, what about him?"

"He's got a tattoo of Tinkerbell on his left cheek." He informed her, watching the man turn towards them as if he could hear them whispering about him.

Confused, Alexis turned her eyes back to her father. "Dad, he doesn't have anything on his face." When he raised his eyebrows at her, her face flushed red in embarrassment. "_Dad!_"

Quick to defend himself to his horrified child, he hurriedly explained. "I saw the corner of it peeking out I just _had _to see the rest. So I detoured around the sinks to check it out."

"I don't know if I should be more disturbed that he's now ruined _Peter Pan _for me or that you were _checking out _another dude's butt." Alexis said slowly, her face returning to its normal color.

They were both so consumed in the Tinkerbell fiasco that neither of them noticed the slender, no-nonsense looking woman approaching them. It was if Alexis had never spoken about the chest signage when her father whirled around with a "Where would you like it?" but even she couldn't be miffed. This woman didn't scream "desperate". She screamed confidence and intent, and didn't even bat an eye at the pen in his grasp as she let him know exactly who she was. Kate Beckett, NYPD Detective.

"Dad's gonna _love _this." Alexis mumbled under her breath as Detective Beckett ushered him out of his own party. She had a feeling that if he thought he could charm his way with this detective, he would be in for a rude awakening.

XxXxXxXxX

He had only been in her interrogation room for two minutes and so far he was living down to every expectation she'd had of him. His flippant attitude and incessant flirting would've probably had a lesser woman in a quivering puddle at his feet. But, Rick Castle soon realized, when this _Detective Beckett _steamrolled effortlessly over each advance he made with a steady calm and a cool, impersonal smile, he was intrigued. Her gorgeous eyes studied him like a specimen under a microscope. He'd never admit it, but her silence was unnerving.

Although murder in itself was heinous, he couldn't help but find the humor in the situation. It was more than just a defense mechanism to him, it was his way of expressing the proverbial pull of the pigtails, an action he hadn't actually partaken in since Jenny Simon's blonde ringlets in 3rd grade.

As she laid out the pictures of the victims, he instantly saw why he had been dragged from the release party down to the station.

"_Flowers for your Grave_." he murmured, recognizing the fact that words that he had written had been turned into reality. _This is so cool_, he thought.

Unaware of how exciting the man on the other side of the table found it, Beckett continued on. "And this is how we found Marvin Fisk. Straight out of _Hell Hath No Fury_." the detective stated almost triumphantly, laying down two more pictures.

"Looks like I have a fan." Castle observed, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Yeah," Beckett said slowly. "A really _deranged _fan."

Eyes sparkling, he looked her up and down. "Oh, you don't look deranged to me."

She paused, slightly confused. "What?"

Castle chuckled knowingly. "_Hell Hath No Fury_? Angry wiccans out for blood? Come on, only hardcore Castle groupies read that one."

Taken off guard, she stammered through the rest of her questioning. "Do any of these groupies ever write you letters?" After he nodded, she continued on. "Disturbing letters?"

"Oh, all of my fan mail is disturbing. It's an occupational hazard."

"Because sometimes in cases like this, we find the killer attempts to-

"The killer attempts to contact the subject of his obsession." He finished with her, earning him another confused look. "I'm also pretty well-versed in the subject of psychopathic methodologies." He explained with a boyish smile, gazing into her dark green irises. "Another occupational hazard." And without pausing or taking a breath, he finished with "And do you know you have gorgeous eyes?"

Slightly flustered yet again, Detective Beckett quickly wrapped up the interview, gaining an invitation to dig through the writer's mail and giving a firm rebuke to his largely insensitive behavior.

He couldn't stop the smile as he studied her purposeful yet graceful exit from the interrogation room, a new idea slowly forming in his mind.

XxXxXxXxX

So _maybe_ he had been instrumental in solving the case. That didn't mean anything. He showed a clear disrespect for the processes and order that being a part of formal investigations required. His mother and daughter had even been forced to accompany him home out of police custody for his lack of disregard for the rules, even though Kate partially blamed herself. She should've known better than to let her hormones get the best of her for those few moments. Though she would admit that teasing him was more fun than she'd expected, especially when she caught the look on his face when she whispered in his ear as they parted for what she thought was the last time. Although she'd be damned if she let anyone know it, Castle _had _impressed her. Not only was he knowledgeable in several areas of crime and law enforcement, but he'd actually been somewhat of an asset on several occasions. Still, he couldn't seem to take any part of the murders seriously, and in Kate's experience, it was that kind of recklessness that got people killed. From what she gathered after the few words she'd exchanged with the pain-in-the-ass's quite charming offspring, the pain-in-the-assery wasn't a new facet of his personality. Richard Castle was obviously trouble.

Even so, when Montgomery informed her that Richard Castle was going to be basing a new book off of her, she felt the tiniest bit flattered. She'd admired his writing for so long, but knowing that he was going to be thinking of her throughout some of the process was disconcerting. When he dropped the bomb that Castle was going to have to follow her for research, every kind thought she'd had of him flew out the window. It had been bothering her so much that even hours later, when she was cuddled on the couch with her son and the dazzling Paul Walker, even the nine year old sensed something was off.

"You okay, mom?" He tore his eyes away from the movie, feeling the tension in her arms as she held him.

She smiled tightly at him. "Fine, baby." And right then, she was. Fast cars, her number one boy and a bowl of buttery popcorn and skittles were her idea of a great night. But her son was not the least bit deterred.

"You don't look fine." he challenged, taking note of her furrowed brow and tense expression.

Kate brushed his dark locks back before kissing the top of his head. "Just work stuff, bub. Don't worry about it."

"Case stuff?"

"Nah, not really." Deciding to just go for it, she continued. "I'm just getting a new partner."

Jonah sat up straighter. "But aren't Uncle Kevin and Uncle Javi your partners?" he asked worriedly, thinking of the two men his mother implicitly trusted. Would they not be her partners anymore?

Kate smoothed his hair back again before running her fingers through it. "It's a different kind of partner, Joh. He's not a cop. He's just going to be doing some research." she smiled sardonically.

"Research? For what?"

"A book."

"Really? What's it about?"

"Um, well, me, I guess. Based on the entire precinct. They really didn't say."

"Woah. That is _so _cool!"

"Glad _you _think so." Kate laughed, squeezing her son briefly as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

Jonah turned his head to press his forehead to the side of her head. "You don't?"

She shrugged. "He kind of acts like you when you throw back a few packs of Fun Dip." she told him, remembering the _nine year old on a sugar rush _comparison she had made earlier.

Jonah made a noise of understanding. "So, he's a pain in the ass."

"Jonah Malcolm," Kate warned sternly.

"Butt. Pain in the butt." he corrected quickly, looking appropriately guilty.

"Mhmm." Kate said skeptically. "He's more of a douche bag, anyways. And we've really got to work on our potty mouths."

"I don't know what you're talking about, mom. You're the one cussing up a storm in front of an innocent little kid."

"Innocent my ass." Kate rolled her eyes. She'd gotten more than a little flack for allowing her son to be so comfortable with profanity, but she had far greater concerns. Especially since he only was parroting what he heard from her in the first place. In her line of work, she faced what could be considered the worst of the worst in New York daily. She wasn't too worried about the impact swearing would have on him in the long run. Her worst nightmares were about him dead, not him cussing. As long as he knew it was only appropriate around her, she saw no harm.

"Katherine Lenora." the boy scolded, nudging her with his shoulder in disapproval.

"I meant _butt_." Kate scolded right back, cringing at the use of her name. "And don't Katherine Lenora me, mister. Only moms can middle name."

"You call grandpa by his first and middle name all the time!" he pointed out.

"Fine, when you grow some hairs under those arms, the game changes. Until that distant date, I'm "mom" and only "mom" to you, kiddo." she teased.

Jonah smiled and raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Okay, _mom_. So what's this new guy's name?"

She shot a sly look at her son, unable to resist. "Stephen King."

"Get real!" Jonah laughed, digging his fingers into her sides, making her bust out into hysterical laughter.

Barely managing to speak through her gasps, Kate surrendered. "Okay, okay!" she finally spoke, lightly pinching his leg. "Richard Castle."

"Richard Castle?" Jonah narrowed his eyes, nearly leaping off the couch to inspect the bookshelf across the room. "_This _Richard Castle?" he asked, brandishing a worn copy of _In the Hail of Bullets_.

Kate made an assenting noise as Jonah slid the book back in its place on the shelf. Jonah made a similar noise as he plopped back onto the couch and leaned into her. "Hmm."

"That's it? 'Hmm'? No smart-ass comment, no snide remark, nothing?" Kate pulled back in disbelief.

Jonah simply shrugged his shoulders, reaching around her to grab the remote and un-pause their movie.

In mock disappointment, she shook her head. "Geeze louise, you're really losing your touch, kid."

XxXxXxXxX

The Sunday after the case had been closed, Kate and Jonah headed down to their favorite Manhattan bookstore to restock their vacant bedside tables. It was a tradition that had started many years ago when Kate herself had barely been four. While Johanna was most comfortable multitasking the day away, her husband was perfectly content to just sit in his favorite chair and flip through the pages of a good book. When young Kate had chosen to cuddle on his lap instead of helping her mother make breakfast one Sunday morning, Jim began reading aloud. Never having been big on bedtime stories, both Jim and Johanna were surprised at their child's sudden obsession with literature. She ran her fingers along the spines as if they would reveal their words, and she pulled out every book off the shelf, tracing the lines with her tiny fingers. It only took two Sundays before they vowed to bestow her with a library that would make any English professor jealous.

"Okay, I'll meet you back here as soon as you're done." Kate told him sternly, knowing how much her nine year old tended to forget her words and go wandering off through the stacks. The bookstore was extra busy that Sunday, which did nothing to ease her natural profession-induced anxiety.

She set her phone alarm to go off in 10 minutes. "If you're not done by the time this goes off, I'll come find you. If I don't find you, I'm gonna announce your name over the loudspeaker and drag you out of here in cuffs."

"Yes, mom." Jonah groaned good-naturedly, still slightly scarred from the time he wandered off in FAO Schwarz and both his mother and his Uncle Javi had blazed through the store in full-on NYPD mode.

They parted ways at the computers, Kate heading over to her favorite shelves while Jonah beelined to the young adult section. Neither of them noticed the lines that had formed down the center of the store.

XxXxXxXxX

He should have learned to never scope out a bookstore before a signing, but his favorite pastime of people-watching had yet to get old.

Surprisingly, there had been a minimal amount of signs trumpeting the release of the final Storm novel, but it just made wandering around incognito that much easier. He had dressed down in jeans and sneakers and had a hoodie thrown on over his more formal dress shirt. He watched as hordes of people milled about, some clutching his own book and others carting around armfuls of unfamiliar titles. He strolled along for several minutes before noticing a pair of eyes that quickly averted his gaze.

"Hey," He bent down to be eye level to a young boy clutching _Storm Fall_, who had been subtly watching him with interest. Richard had a weak spot for all of his young fans, as few and far between as they were. They were the ones who weren't interested in his money or fame or looks. They simply liked what he wrote and were some of the only genuine people he seemed to meet at events like the one about to occur.

"Hey." the boy mimicked, his dark green eyes strikingly familiar to the older man. Richard didn't know this,, but the boy's mother had told him to always be watchful around strangers, but he wasn't quite sure if famous people counted as strangers. Especially ones whose faces stared back at him from a bookshelf. Being that they were surrounded by people and his mother was armed and most likely impatient nearby, he felt that it was safe to talk. He just hoped he wouldn't be strangled if he misjudged.

"Have we met?" Richard asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"No, not really." he paused. "I mean, you're that writer guy, right? I've seen you on books at home."

"You a fan?" he joked, eyes narrowing as the boy rolled his eyes.

"No, but my mom is. Well, she reads them. But she just likes the genre, really. She's reading a new Patterson book right now but when she's done she might have time for this one." He explained, gesturing to the novel he had placed back on the shelf. "Even if you lost your mind and killed your best character _ever_."

"Oh, ouch!" he laughed, rubbing his arm as if wounded as the boy grinned mischievously. "Well, I'm Rick Castle. It's nice to meet you…?"

"Jonah," the boy said, extending his skinny arm and shaking the older man's outstretched hand. "Can't tell you my last name, Mr. Castle. My mom'll shoot me. Or you. Probably both."

Richard chuckled. "So, what are you looking for today, Jonah?"

"A good book." Jonah replied simply, running his small fingers along the spines of a section of books.

"Well, what kind of book? I may be an adult writer, but I've had a lot of experience picking out books for kids." he lowered his voice conspiratorially.

The boy shrugged, staring intently at a few titles. "I dunno. No yucky girly romance stuff."

At that, Richard smiled. Thankfully, Alexis hadn't favored girly romance books in the least. She'd stuck to stories with strong female characters, and even as a small child she had wanted the princess to come riding in on the white horse instead.

The two silently browsed, one searching intently for an old favorite and one pretending to search as his young mind ran a mile a minute. Jonah knew how much the Castle books meant to his mother. After some of her harder cases, he'd creep into the kitchen in the middle of the night for some water only to find her curled up on the couch, with a book that Mr. Castle wrote. But he also knew how annoyed she seemed to be by him in real-life, so he decided to just play this one by ear.

"How about this?" Richard brought back a soft cover from a nearby shelf and brandished it like a prize.

"_The Book Thief_." Jonah read slowly, taking the proffered book to inspect. While he flipped through the pages, Castle suddenly remembered the time he had lost track Alexis in a busy store. He had run around the store in terror until he found the tiny redhead asleep in a dressing room. "Hey, you've been sitting here for a while, think someone's looking for you?"

"Nah," Jonah said distractedly, flipping through the book with interest. "Whoever picks their book out first waits by the computers for the other. Mom's used to me taking forever. But she'll find me eventually to make sure I'm not dead or kidnapped."

As if on cue, a familiar voice sailed over to both of them. "Hey, buddy, you ready to go? It's kind of crazy here today." The familiar voice trailed off as he looked up and realized why Jonah's green eyes were so distinct.

"Hi!" he exclaimed in surprise, standing upright and looking from Jonah's eyes to her own. Exactly the same shade.

"Castle." Kate greeted stiffly. "You need any help, baby?"

"Yep." Castle joked, earning a death glare from Kate as she looked pointedly to her son.

"Nah, I already found a good one!" Jonah informed her. "This is my mom." Jonah introduced redundantly, feigning innocence.

Kate ignored the grin Castle was giving her and took the paperback from the boy.

"Your mini-me was just telling me how much you like my books. I knew it!" Castle found it irresistible to tease her, even though his head was still spinning with this new revelation.

"Oh, I'm not a fan of _you_. I'm a fan of the genre." she informed him shortly.

"See? Told ya." Jonah smiled winningly.

Kate narrowed her eyes at him and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Told him what?" she said lowly.

"Nothing!" they both exclaimed in unison, looking at each other and fighting back laughter.

Kate felt a pounding headache starting to form behind her eyes.

"Well, now I've met yours and you've met mine. And we've got to be going. You ready, bud?"

Jonah bobbed his head, shaggy hair flying as he waved one hand in farewell at Castle as the other hand entwined his mother's. Their voices still reached his ears as they began towards the check-out line.

"He helped me find a book. And he doesn't seem like an _asshole, _mom."

"Hey! I called him a douchebag, not an asshole." She corrected, turning her head to smirk back at Castle, who hadn't moved since they began to walk away.

"Same thing, mom. Hey, that thing I asked you about earlier? What's the verdict?"

With her eyes still locked teasingly with Castle's, who seemed a little flabbergasted, Kate's grin grew even larger. "We'll see."

Castle continued to study the two of them, his eyes following them from register to the door. He smiled slightly as he watched the two of them hop over what he assumed to be cracks in the pavement as their canvas bags swung in the air.

This was a new side to Katherine Beckett, and it was a new side that he definitely planned on learning much more about.

XxXxXxXxX


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! Spring break really threw me off.**

**Also, unless my friend whose last name happens to be Castle counts, I don't own anything.**

XxXxXxXxX

Sometimes, Lanie Parish liked the dead people she worked with much more than the live ones. Especially when those people were as difficult as Kate Beckett. But when her best friend breezed into her morgue like she owned the place, the look on her face made her pay attention.

"He knows about Jonah." Kate breathed out, looking as unsure as she felt inside about the recent development.

Lanie stopped dead in her tracks. "You introduced them?" There was no questioning whom she was referring to, but this was not the Kate she knew. The Kate she was so very familiar with would have sent a guy off the balcony before introducing him to her son in the amount of time that Kate had known Rick Castle.

"What? No! We kind of just, ran into each other."

"Haven't you said that telling potential beaus about the baby Becks is bad?" Lanie reminded, thinking of the somewhat practical yet sometimes silly rule her best friend practiced.

"Ok, whatever ideas you have in your head, _so _not happening." Kate said sternly, hoping to nip in the bud any ideas her closest friend might be cooking up.

"Why not?" Lanie asked, mischievously curious. "You've got a kid, he's got a kid. You can have kids together. Wait. That's not how I meant it. Not until later at least. You've only worked on three cases…"

Kate nearly choked while inhaling. "Woah, back up, Parish. _'We've both got kids?' _That's got to be as cheesy as _'We both like music' _It's not like having a kid is any rare, strange occurrence."

"Yeah, but have any of these kid-friendly wonders ever looked at you like that writer-boy does?" Lanie asked knowingly, already aware of what her friend's response would be.

As expected, Kate immediately denied it. "No, but- hey, he does not look at me like, like _that_."

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart."

"Oh, please, what do you think would happen? I'd give it up and jump into something with him? You've seen all those rumors about him. Total love-em and leave-em." Kate dismissed.

"Rumors, exactly." Lanie pointed out.

"Even if they are just rumors, I can't just chance it like that. There's more than just me at stake here."

Lanie couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Jonah? Come on, that kid's got a heart of steel and gold. If you're happy, he sure as hell is happy."

"Until Castle moves on."

"_Until he moves on_, girl I'm gonna smack you. I love you but you just need to loosen up a bit."

"The last time that happened, I almost got a tattoo of my childhood dog's name on my ass." Kate glared at Lanie as she guffawed upon the memory and the medical examiner quickly schooled her expression.

"Yeah, but things are different now."

"Says you."

"Yes, says me. The girl who has known and for some reason loved you for far longer than any boy ever has. I know how you tick, girl. And if you don't get out there soon, preferably with writer boy, I'm gonna have to start trying to hook you up with guys from that bogus profile again."

Groaning, Kate rolled her eyes. "Ugh, spare me."

"Then go for it, honey. What've you got to lose?" Lanie asked gently, grabbing the other woman's hand.

"Let me see-"

"Don't answer that. Don't think. For once in your life, put your pretty little head into hibernation and let that heart of your take control."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It is that easy. If you give it a chance."

XxXxXxXxX

"How was your day, dear?" Martha Rodgers asked her only child as he joined her in the living area.

"Splendid. I didn't have to turn down a single chest autograph because there _wasn't _any!" he said loudly, looking pointedly at his daughter, who promptly let out a heavenly thanking from across the room. He returned his voice to its normal volume. "I ran into Detective Beckett while I was there."

"Really? What was she doing there? Not getting a book signed, I presume."

"She was there with her son."

"She has a son?" Martha asked. She had met the woman briefly after she'd had Richard arrested, and she had immediately liked the woman, but wouldn't have guessed that she was also a mother.

Alexis, folding herself into the armchair next to her father, asked "Who has a son?"

"Beckett."

"Oh. How old is he?"

"Nine or ten, probably. He's like the smaller male version of Beckett. A little scary, to be honest."

Both Alexis and Martha laughed. "Well, did he give you the Spanish Inquisition too?" Alexis questioned. "Or was it another _new one_?"

"He gave me the same look I saw Beckett giving a suspect the other day. I'm probably destined to be terrified by every member of the Beckett bloodline that may be roaming around out there."

"Nice." Alexis laughed,

"Don't be so dramatic, Richard. I'm sure you think he's as lovely as you think _she _is."

"Mother."

"Deny it all you want, son. I know that look of your when I see it."

"And on that slightly gross note," Alexis stood, a little frightened by the allusion to her father's love life, "I promised Max that I'd meet her downstairs in a few so she could help me study at the library, so I'll be off. Exams next week." Alexis kissed both her father and grandmother on the cheeks before grabbing her bag and making her hasty exit.

"Well, does it make a difference?" Martha resumed her questioning as soon as Alexis was gone.

"Make a difference in what?"

"Oh, don't play dumb Richard." Martha wasn't stupid, she knew there was something different about this girl. He had never been so adamant about research for a book until he met Detective Beckett. She didn't miss the way he brightened when she called him about cases

"I have no idea what you're talking about Mother."

XxXxXxXxX

"Pretty nice kid you've got there, Beckett." Rick stated, taking a swig of coffee. He didn't know how he missed it before; she had a picture of the two of them on her desk.

She looked at her watch. "It took you over 20 minutes to ask me about him. I thought it'd take you at least an hour the way you were hurting your brain over there."

Rick merely shrugged, not wanting to reveal to her that he was afraid she'd shoot him for bringing up her personal life again at her workplace. "So, you know about mine. What about yours?" He asked, trying not to pressure her too much.

Kate smiled softly. "He's great. Well, he might hate me after today. My babysitter, Maxie, got this awesome internship for a fashion magazine. She starts in about a month and I know she needs to focus on the work, so I told her I could manage without her for a while. Now I've stuck Jonah with our elderly neighbor and I know he hates it, but it's not like I have any alternatives." She sighed, remembering the comically betrayed look on her son's face when she told him to go to Mrs. Hurst's after school.

"Wait, your babysitter's name is Maxie? Maxie Jones, right?"

Kate stopped what she was doing to look at him. "Are you stalking my babysitter, Castle?"

"No, it's just," he stopped, "Little blonde firecracker, right? Like a chihuahua on Prozac, but kind of in a good way?" At Kate's slow nod, he continued. "She and Alexis are friends. Maxie's been tutoring her in Chemistry all year."

"Hmm. Sounds like Max, alright. Small world, I guess."

"Yeah, well, if you're in need of a babysitter, I'll have you know that Alexis comes highly recommended."

"Come on, Castle. I couldn't ask her to-"

'Of course you can." he interrupted. "She stopped babysitting last year after the family moved away, but I know she misses it."

"Does she have a cell phone?"

"_Does she have a cell phone?" _Rick scoffed. "Why, Detective Beckett, only the best for my dearest daughter."

"Well, what's her number? You can warn her that I'll be calling if you want"

"Why bother? I know she'll be fine with it. She loves kids."

"Well, I'd like to ask her myself. The only time she's met me was after I had you arrested and she might not feel comfortable taking responsibility for my kid, which is perfectly understandable-"

When Rick tried to protest again, Kate raised a hand to silence him. "I'll call her myself and ask her." Kate said firmly. "I don't need you to do my dirty work, Castle."

"Fine. But just so you know, I'd _love _to do your dirty work. Anytime. Ow, _ow_!"

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey, Alexis! Thank you so much, I know it's really short notice, but I figured I could at least make a trade. My son for your dad."

The teenager laughed. "Don't worry, Detective Beckett. It's fine. Taking care of a 9 year old isn't much of a stretch from taking care of my dad anyways." Alexis jokingly informed to the older woman, smiling when she rolled her eyes in agreement.

"Hey!" her father protested, overhearing the two females chatting near the kitchen.

"Hi, Mr. Castle!" Jonah smiled at him from next to his mother.

"Hey, bud. How's the book?" Rick asked him, leaning against the counter to be nearly eye level with him.

"It's so great! It was a little weird at first, but I really like it. I've already read it twice."

"Twice already? Wow."

"Joh's a serious speed-reader. He started reading _me _bedtime stories when he was five." Kate teased.

"She's lying! I was four." Jonah teased right back, jumping out of her reach as she reached for him with outstretched fingers.

Rick smiled at his daughter, who was watching with amusement. "Don't set too much on fire."

Kate glared at him before looking back to Alexis. "And don't give Jonah too many ideas that you've picked up from your father."

"Oh, trust me, I wouldn't inflict some of those on my worst enemy." she laughed as her father pouted.

Both adults left soon thereafter, and Alexis looked down at the younger boy, who was eyeing her with curiosity and trepidation. Knowing the best way to a child's was through games and food, she smiled brightly as she offered "After I order some pizza, want to play laser tag?"

XxXxXxXxX

Over the next few weeks, the cases seemed to blur together. Rich boys, politicians, nannies, common criminals. That is, until Aidan Nichols. A second grader at Jonah's school, stolen from his bedroom in the middle of the night and murdered. Left to die in a dirty gas station bathroom. Kate didn't think she'd ever be able to erase the images from her mind.

The Captain knew it was hitting both her and her shadow hard. Alexis had easily assumed Maxie's role for the time being, which made it all the more comforting when both Beckett and Castle could be appeased by text messages from Alexis of both children, safe and sound. Castle was hesitant to get too involved, unable to disassociate the memory of a young Alexis from the young boy whose life ended too early.

They went days without solid leads. The parents had been asleep in their bed, happily married. Dad was a professor at NYU, mom worked a day care center. No known enemies. Preteen twin sisters, both at a slumber party. No other family in the area. Glowing memories of a little blond boy who loved baseball and hiding his army men around the house.

"This case sucks." Ryan announced, dropping a bunch of files on his and Esposito's desks.

"You're tellin' me." Esposito mumbled, flipping another file closed. They'd been going through the file of every pedophile and every killer who had targeted children and so far they'd come up with nothing. "I'm this close to making sure any future kids of mine come with GPS trackers and alarm systems."

"When are we releasing the body back to the family?"

"Whenever I'm done with it." Lanie said firmly. "If this is a serial killer, I'm going to need to compare notes and it'd be a lot easier with the body on hand."

"Is the family pushing?"

Ryan shrugged. "They're so distraught, I'm not even sure. There's an uncle in the military about to be granted leave, I heard they'd be waiting for him to get back anyways."

"Jonah wants to go to the funeral. He knew Aidan from the playground at Hunter." Kate said softly, shuddering again at how close this one was.

"Jesus, Becks." Esposito

She gave him a tight smile. "If it was my son-"

"If it was Jonah, the guy would've been dead before he even got in the window."

XxXxXxXxX

"Thanks again, Lex." Kate told the younger girl, laughing as her son dragged the teen away.

"No problem, Detective."

"Kate." she corrected, ignoring the look she got from the man next to her.

"Wait, _she _gets to call you Kate?" Rick asked, jokingly insulted but secretly pleased.

"She's taking responsibility for my son. Of course she can call me Kate. Hell, she could call me Dolores Umbridge if she really wanted." Alexis turned around and made an appalled face.

Pushing his luck, he asked "Well can I call you Kate?"

"Try it, we'll see." she smirked at him, eyes glinting as she walked into the hallway. It was the look that froze whatever mischievous idea in his head.

Alexis laughed at the look at her father's face only seconds before Kate asked if he was joining her.

After the adults had left, Alexis asked the youngest Beckett, "Is your mom always like that?"

"Yeah," he grinned.

"So how is it? Having a cop for a mom, I mean."

Jonah shrugged. No one really asked him how he felt about his mother's profession, and there was something a bout the older girl that made him know that he could trust her. "It's cool. Kids don't like to mess with me 'cause they think she or my uncles'll shoot them. But sometimes she gets upset because of a case or doesn't get to come home til late. She gets some pretty cool bruises that she likes to show off. I hate when she gets _really _hurt."

"Does she get really hurt often?"

"She's really careful. But sometimes the suspects get a little rough. But getting really hurt is shot."

Alexis nearly choked. "_Shot?_"

"Yeah, but I don't remember them besides sleeping in the hospital with her. And once, a guy tried to get me to come with him after school but he didn't use mom's safe word, so I knew he was lying."

"That's gotta be really scary." Alexis told him truthfully, shuddering at the mere memory of her father getting into a minor car accident when she was twelve. And even then, he'd only fractured his wrist and escaped with a pink cast to humor her.

Jonah merely nodded, shrugging once more.

XxXxXxXxX

When Kate went home on the fourth night of the case, the first night she left Jonah with Mrs. Hurst and didn't tuck him into bed, she found his room empty. Terror gripped her heart as she charged into her bedroom, not even making it to where she had haphazardly dropped her bags before freezing. Little feet poking out from the bottom of her bed. She breathed out slowly, her heart slowly returning to a normal frequency as she went back into the hallway to turn off the rest of the lights. She made sure the front door all of the windows were tightly locked before returning to her room. She tried not to wake him as she changed into her pajamas, but after a few moments his head poked out at the top of her quilt.

"Hi, mama." he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Go back to sleep, baby bear." she whispered back, pulling on a pair of sweatpants. She tucked her watch and necklace back into their places and slid her gun into the drawer. As soon as she crawled in bed, she felt him scoot closer, tucking his icy feet under hers.

"Fight dragons today?" At his mumbled question, Kate couldn't help but chuckle. When Jonah had first started asking what her job was, she explained in the best way she could: dragon and monster fighting. Her mother had always used the same terminology when she was young, weaving tales about fire-breathing attorneys and fanged evildoers.

She hummed softly. "Yeah, a big, spiky one." she said into his hair, moving back when he started moving to look at her. "Good." he firmly said, lacing one hand in hers.

Kate thought he had fallen back asleep when his had squeezed hers tightly. "I talked to Aidan on the playground once." he whispered softly. Kate brought their entwined hands to rest next to her cheek as she looked at her trembling son. "One of the bigger kids in another class had run by him and knocking into him really hard. I made him sit down, like you taught me, cause he wasn't breathing good. He kept coughing. I told him that the big kid was just a bully and mad because he didn't have a cool Batman backpack like Aidan did. It even had Robin on it. I let him have half my goldfish and my water."

"I bet that made him feel a lot better." Kate whispered, pressing a kiss to Jonah's forehead.

"I dunno. I'd seen that big kid hit the littler kids all the time. I don't think any of the grown ups did, though. I should've told. Maybe if I'd told, then maybe that big kid would've stopped pushing all the little kids around. Maybe-" A sob escaped from the young boy's mouth, twisting his mother's heart in her chest.

"Shh, shh," Kate soothed, rubbing Jonah's back softly. "What happened to Aidan is nobody's fault besides the criminal who did it to him. You're a good kid, Jonah Malcolm. I'm so proud to be your mom, and don't you forget it."

"I think Aidan was a good kid too. Bad things shouldn't happen to good people." he whispered, fisting his other hand in his mother's shoulder-length hair and resting his head into their joined ones.

"I know, baby. I know." She rubbed his back until the tears stopped and his breathing slowed. She focused on her son's rhythmic inhaling, the steady rise and fall of his chest and the way his long, still damp eyelashes fluttered in sleep. She allowed herself to be lulled to sleep with the knowledge that today, it wasn't her child.

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey pumpkin, what are you still doing up?" Castle asked, pressing a kiss to his daughter's head.

Alexis jumped in surprise, pulling the headphones from her ears and pressing a hand to her chest. "Dad! You should know better than to sneak up on a girl. Especially when she's studying for something as scary as Physics." she scolded.

"Ah," he said, peering over her shoulder at the note cards scattered over the book in front of her. "Is this why Beckett sent her son to after-school torture?"

"I told her it wasn't necessary, but she insisted that I should be relieved from my Jonah duties for a night. How's the case going?"

Rick sighed. "Bad. Three more kids have been found. It's the same M.O. and hardly any leads." Rick hated this. He was able to write about death like it was nothing, but he had discovered that his resolve seemed to crumble when it came down to it, especially when children were involved. It made him want to put Alexis is a plastic bubble and never let her out of his sight.

"Well, be careful dad."

"Aren't I always?" he managed to tease, poking her in the side.

"I'm serious. Did you know that Detect-_Kate,_" Alexis corrected, remembering the older woman's request "has been shot _two _times?"

"What?"

"I was talking to Jonah the other day. About what it's like to have a cop for a mom. I mean, he's six years younger than me and you're not even an actual cop and I still get a little worried. He told me that he's used to it. How does a kid get used to their parent getting shot at?"

Castle didn't have an answer for her, so he just pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"Living room slumber party?" Alexis smiled and went to pull two sleeping bags from the hall closet.

XxXxXxXxX

On the sixth day, connections began to form. A man living on the outskirts of town, a self-imposed seclusion. But when they brought in a finicky escort, reluctantly cooperating in exchange for her prostitution charges being dropped, she pointed the finger at him. Jackson Rowe. He had hit on her, she claimed. The dotted blood on his sleeves and the smug gleam in his beady eyes had given her the creeps, though, and she slipped away into the night. She managed to go unseen by the security cameras out front or by the attendant inside. The older man had tried to follow, but lost her somewhere in town. She didn't know how he had gotten the boy there undetected. They knew they needed more than just the word of a hooker, but once they had gotten a search warrant, they knew that they had him. Detailed floor plans of the Nichols house and the houses of at least four more children, a school photo of Aidan, a lock of curly blond hair. A job well done, they were told, but none of them even thought about feeling proud. Esposito's knuckles were still bruised from when they met the cold metal of his locker.

Castle and Beckett were both back at the precinct by eight o'clock Friday morning.

"It's time for you two to get lost." Montgomery told them gently. "The rest will be handled."

"But, Sir-" Kate interrupted.

"_No _buts. You need some serious rest, Beckett. Go spend some time with that son of yours. See a movie. Get some breakfast. I don't want to see you back for at least 3 days, and not a moment sooner. That includes you too, Mr. Castle."

Knowing that she was overruled, Beckett relented. "Yes sir." as Castle nodded his assent as well. The pair walked to the elevators together in a calm silence, and neither of them broke it until the doors had closed firmly behind them. Kate pressed the button for the ground level before speaking.

"I should go rescue Jonah, I left him with Mrs. Hurst this morning." Kate sighed, lips quirking as she remembered the disapproving look her nine year old had given her as she waved goodbye.

"No school?"

"Nah, some teacher in-service thing. I completely forgot about it until I'd already used the squirt gun on him."

Rick couldn't help but ask. "Squirtgun?"

"You probably don't want to know." Kate laughed, only a little remorseful of her son's rude awakening. "It's because of his ridiculous love of them that I have to sleep with one eye open and a trip line on my door."

"Because of a squirt gun? I'd be more worried about those burly criminals you piss off on a daily basis." Rick chuckled, trying not to imagine Beckett completely drenched in water.

"Please, you've obviously never seen that kid with a Super Soaker. Kid's got scary good aim. Ten times scarier than any criminal, any day."

They fell into another silence as they continued walking. "Hey, I was wondering," he began, pausing as if considering his words before deciding that a direct approach was best.

"How about I take you and Rambo Jr out for breakfast? It's the least I can do after monopolizing all of your time recently."

"Really Castle, that's not necessary-"

"I know it's not." His voice stopped her protests, and being unaccustomed to his sincerity, she felt captivated by him. "Come on. Breakfast on me. You can load up on some decent coffee and he can load up on all the Eggs Benedict he likes."

His eyes crinkled as a hesitant smile graced her features. "Are you sure? If it's no trouble, I was just going to grab a couple bear claws."

"No, I want to! Plus, Mother went on a date last night and I'm marginally terrified of the potential walk of shame I may witness if I go home now."

"Fine," she assented, a warm feeling coming over her as he grinned hugely at her, looking like a kid at Christmas. "There's this place over by Alexis' old preschool. I've heard their breakfast is amazing and have been dying to try it."

"Sounds good." she smiled, absently playing with a lock of her hair. "But you're paying, Captain Moneybags."

"Admiral Moneybags." Rick corrected with a smile. "And I believe I already said I would pay."

"Just clarifying."

"Want me to write it in blood?" he teased as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, that'd be a start."

Ten minutes later, they were knocking on the door next to Kate's. An elderly woman opened the door grumbling to herself before taking in who exactly was standing in front of her.

"Joanie, you're moth-" she began announce, before a whirlwind of arms and legs flew by her.

"Mom!" Rick couldn't help but chuckle as the boy flung himself into his mother's arms like a bat out of hell.

"Thank you Mrs. Hurst."

"No problem at all, dear." Mrs. Hurst beamed. "Anything I can do to help a neighbor."

Kate stepped out of the doorway and into the hall, Jonah's arms still tied around her as the door closed. When Rick opened his mouth to speak, she held one finger up to silence him, seemingly counting in her head. Just as she pointed her finger at the door, it was flung open once more as an old, bedraggled gray cat was pushed out of the door and into the hallway. The fat feline merely laid down in front of the door and began to yowl.

"She tries to give us that cat at least once a day." she whispered to Rick, shaking her head at the troublesome animal. "She was probably a dog person once upon a time, but Shithead over here just won't leave her side."

"Shithead?" Rick chuckled. "Interesting nickname."

"Oh no, that's his real name." she laughed. "Well, it's the only thing she ever calls him at least. She'll feel bad in about five more minutes and let him back inside."

Rick couldn't help but laugh at he absurdity of the situation she was describing. He smiled in amusement as Kate began untangling herself from her son. "That bad, huh?" he asked the boy after he released his arms from around Kate and looked to the man next to his mother.

"Horrible!" Jonah groaned. "She made me watch _Dallas _with her."

"Ouch." Growing up with Martha Rodgers' poor television program taste made him sympathetic towards the smaller Beckett. "You must have one mean mom."

"Nah, just one who kept her potty mouth in check this morning." he pouted, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

"Yeah? Keep it up. You'll know who shot J.R. in no time."

Jonah shuddered as Kate wrapped an arm around him and led them all back towards the elevators.

XxXxXxXxX

As they walked up the garden-esque walkway that led to the restaurant, Rick couldn't help but be silently fascinated by the dynamic of the two people next to him. Jonah's exuberance was incredibly refreshing, especially after the harrowing case that had just been closed. She tried to hide the exhaustion and anguish she felt, but he could tell that the fact that it was a child so close to her own had hit her as hard, if not harder, than it hit him. He figured this wasn't the first case like this that she'd worked on. He opened the first door for her, as Jonah ducked from under her arm to trot ahead and open the second door. Kate fought a grin and shook her head at both of them as she teased "Such gentlemen, sweeping me off my feet."

Rick couldn't restrain himself. "This isn't even the beginning of the sweeping." he murmured into her ear, delighting in the shiver that he saw overtake her as the hostess approached them.

She and Rick were to a table on the back patio. Even the elbow she sent into his side couldn't stop the grin from overtaking his face. He was surprised when she chose the seat next to him as her son slipped into the seat opposite her.

He didn't even notice she hadn't even bothered to open her menu until the waitress appeared from inside. "What can I get for you this morning?" she asked, without looking up from her notepad.

Kate fought back a grin. "Well _you _might need some etiquette lessons, Ms. Rush."

"Oh my god!" The woman exclaimed, her head snapping up. "Katie! I haven't seen you since-"

"It's been a while, Lizzie." Kate interrupted, agreeing with the blonde with a smile as she half-stood to embrace the other woman.

After a few moments of happy laughter, Lizzie took in the other occupants of the table. "Oh my gosh, is this Jonah?" Lizzie teased, gesturing at Castle. "He's grown up so fast!"

"Yes." Jonah said from the other side of the table. "And I'm Richard Castle, famous mystery writer extraordinaire." he said with a flourish.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Castle." Lizzie played along, paying no attention to the laughing detective and her slightly embarrassed, slightly more amused companion.

Lizzie laughed. "Well, order what you want. I'll comp you. Consider this my 'I suck at friendships' gift."

As Kate laughed, Lizzie "Wait, let me guess!" Jonah interrupted his mother. "French toast with vanilla ice cream. And a side of peanut butter."

"Okay, that's a little scary." Kate informed him, nodding to Lizzie that he was correct.

After they finished their breakfasts, Lizzie came back out to get Kate's number. "Don't lose it this time." Kate teased, hugging the blonde before taking her son's hand and following Rick to the front door.

"You know what this means, though, right?" Kate asked, once they hit the street and Jonah had skipped a few paces in front of them.

Rick turned to her, clueless. "What _what _means?"

"You promised to pay for my meal. You owe me a rain check." Kate smirked, holding his gaze for several long moments before turning her attention to the sidewalk in front of her.

XxXxXxXxX

"Breakfast? Girl, you have got it _bad_." Lanie announced, plopping down on her friend's couch as she walked down the hall from tucking her son in bed.

"I don't have it bad!" Kate protested, taking her spot next to the other woman. "I don't have it _anything_! It was just a meal of convenience."

"Give me a break. You've probably spent more time with that man than you have with any of your _actual _boyfriends in the past."

"Yeah, because he is my _shadow_. Mayor's orders. I couldn't get rid of him if I wanted to."

Lanie sighed at her closest friend. "Trust me, honey, if you really wanted to get rid of him, you could. They don't call you Badass Beckett for nothing."

"Where did you hear-"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Now, tell me about this breakfast date." Lanie demanded. "I need all of the details."

"It wasn't a date. It was a meal between two…colleagues."

"Uh huh." she said skeptically. "When have you ever taken _Jonah _to a meal between two colleagues. Hell, when have you had a meal with a colleague ever before? And takeout with Ryan and Esposito do not count."

After a few moments, the silence that had overtaken the room was broken. "I have no idea what I'm doing." Kate moaned, burying her head in the couch.

Lanie just gazed knowingly at her friend.

XxXxXxXxX

The next morning, Rick took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. It was still a bit early compared to the time he used to get up B.B. (Before Beckett, he called it, because he felt that the discrimination between the two points in his life would be neccesary at some point, if not already) but even for a Saturday morning, it was understandable. The images of Kate licking the syrup from her fork and the way her eyes lit up as she jokingly twirled with her son on the sidewalk outside of Vivian's followed him to his dreams.

"Uh, dad?" His daughter's voice rang out from the counter where she was perched, her laptop and a half-eaten muffin in front of her.

"Hmm?" he mumbled groggily, still wiping the sleep from his eyes and squinting in the brightly lit area.

"Should I be planning on getting bunkbeds, or…?"

"What are you talking about?"

Alexis turned her laptop around to face him. His face drained of color. "Oh, shit. Beckett's going to kill me."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Does owning a plastic medieval Castle count?**

XxXxXxXxX

Rick shifted nervously from foot to foot in some sort of obscure dance as he mustered up the courage to knock on Beckett's door.

"Dad. She's not going to murder you. At least not with me as a witness." Alexis reasoned, grabbing her father's arms in an attempt to still him. "But if she sees you standing here like a creepy wimp at the end of her hall who is too afraid to talk to her, I'm totally fine with waiting downstairs." Over the past few weeks, Alexis had grown to like the detecive, especially because of the changes she'd begun to see in her father.

Whether it was the discussion she'd had with him just before Beckett had crashed into their world or the aftershocks of meeting such a hurricane of a woman, she wasn't sure. But she _did_ know that her father was much more content with his life as of late. Alexis was pleased whenever she saw the light in his eyes as he talked about the investigations the detectives were working on. That light had been out for far too long, in her opinion, and if the woman who lived in the hallway they were currently lurking in could keep that light there, she was all for a potential relationship. It was just a matter of making the two stubborn adults open their eyes.

"That's it," Alexis sighed. "I'm knocking, whether you're manning up or not."

Rick lunged a moment too late, and Alexis was already in front of Beckett's door before he regained his bearings.

"Alexis!" he whined as she rapped lightly on it.

Upon hearing the footsteps approaching the door, Alexis quickly paled. "You do it, dad!" she whispered harshly, shoving him in front of her.

"What happened to being brave and _not_ creepy?" he whispered back, steadying himself for the inevitable.

Alexis giggled from behind him. "I realized that she owns a gun."

XxXxXxXxX

Kate had just finished rinsing the breakfast dishes when she heard a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone to drop by that day, she cautiously approached the door and peered into the peephole.

"What are you doing here, Castle?" she sighed, opening the door to reveal the writer and his daughter. "Hey, Alexis." she greeted the redhead with a small grin. "What's going on, guys?" she asked the duo, letting them into her apartment. It wasn't nearly as big as the Castle family's loft, Rick immediately noticed, but it was definitely above the salary of the average cop. He smiled at some of the family pictures on a shelf before Alexis cleared her throat.

"Dad needs to show you something." Kate chuckled lightly at the glare that Castle shot at his daughter before, still extremely confused as to why they were both so nervous.

Alexis pulled her laptop out from her bag and powered it up on Beckett's counter. But before Kate could begin interrogating the two people in front of her, Jonah appeared at the end of the hallway.

"Mom, I can't find my Kronwall shirt. Have you seen it?" Noticing the two other people in the room that hadn't been there when he'd gotten into the shower, his face brightened. "Hi, Lex! Hi, Mr. Castle!"

They both smiled at him. "Hey, Jonah. Kronwall shirt?" Castle asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Niklas Kronwall. Red Wings." Jonah informed him. "Best defenseman _ever_." When Castle looked at Beckett curiously, she shrugged her shoulders. "My dad grew up in Michigan, moved here for college. But he never lost his love for the Wings and passed it on." She turned her attention to her son. "I haven't seen it since I washed it, but I can help you look if you give me a sec."

"I can do it." Alexis interrupted, smiling hastily at the detective. "It's no problem. I'm awesome at finding things."

Rick nodded, accepting the fact that his daughter was abandoning him. "She really is. She found a missing sock that I hadn't seen in years when she was a toddler. She tried to eat it." He laughed as Alexis slapped her hand over his mouth in embarrassment and headed towards Jonah to help him in his search.

With each of their children gone, Kate watched Rick critically as he quickly clicked a few buttons and pulled up an familiar website. Her eyes widened and became glued to the screen. "What are these, Castle?" When he didn't respond, she looked up from his fansite's messageboard questioningly. His head was low and he was nervously shifting from side to side. "Castle." she said firmly, the forcefulness in her voice making his head snap up. The look on his face would've made her laugh if it wasn't so damn forlorn.

"Beckett, I swear, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. You have every right to be pissed at me but-"

"Stop it. Stop it, _right_ there." She cut him off, and he felt the dread he had buried rise up like bile in his throat.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the pictures of the two of them on the screen mocking them. Castle wondered how such an innocent and carefree moment between the two of them, talking as they waited for the crosswalk lights to change, and turned into something so ugly. He couldn't help but remember the conversation he'd had with his daughter only a half an hour before.

"_Should I be planning on getting bunkbeds, or…?"_

"_What are you talking about?"_

_Alexis turned her laptop around to face him. His face drained of color. "Oh, shit. Beckett's going to kill me."_

"_What happened yesterday?" Alexis asked, brow furrowed. "They're all saying that she's your newest conquest. You and Kate aren't-"_

"_No! No, it's not like that, Alexis. We'd just been booted from the precinct. I thought it'd be nice to take her and Jonah out to eat, do you know who took these?" His eyes hadn't left the screen, his voice hushed as he spoke intently._

"_Not a clue. They popped up on a message board at…" Alexis clicked a few buttons. "6:08pm. They're a little doctored, though. See that watermark? At least these can't be used in gossip rags. They were probably taken by someone with a camera phone. From the 1800s."_

"_Thank god." he breathed out. Still, from what he knew about Kate, she was a very private person. He had no clue how she'd take having her face splashed all over almost every Richard Castle fansite. He didn't even want to look at the things they'd been saying about her._

"_Can you take them down?"_

_"_I_ can't, no. I have a friend that might be able to, though. Want me to give him a call?"_

_"Yeah, do that. Once we're in the car." Rick told her, grabbing his keys._

_Alexis's brow furrowed. "In the car? Where are we going? At least get dressed first." she called after him._

_After dressing quickly, Rick slipped his shoes on and answered her question. "We're going to Beckett's. She can't hear about this from anyone but me."_

He was brought back into the moment when Kate slowly began to speak. "I'm not mad, Castle." she whispered. "Not at you, at least. You didn't tell them to show up there and follow us. You were doing something nice for me and my son. If I were to be mad at anybody, it'd be the person who took those pictures, okay? So you'd better get rid of that little rain cloud over your head and think of a way to make it up to me." she teasingly bit her lower lip, redirecting his gaze from her enchanting eyes to her mouth. Her face turned serious once more as she spoke again. "Castle, a few weeks ago you went you agreed to shadow me on this job, embracing both the good and the bad parts of it. It's only fair that I extend you the same courtesy. Whether I like it or not." she teased once more, shyly dipping her head to focus on a loose string on her pants.

Rick just gawked at her before murmuring lowly. "Katherine Beckett, you are _extraordinary_."

"What was that?" Kate frowned. She'd lost herself in another world for a few seconds and completely missed whatever he had just said to himself.

He jumped, afraid he'd been caught. "What? Nothing! I just, thought you were gonna shoot me. Or take my head off. Or bar me from the precinct for all eternity."

"All in good time, Castle." She smiled, before schooling her features. "And _don't_ call me Katherine."

"Can I call you Kate, then?" He asked hopefully.

"Nope!"

Moments later, Alexis reappeared, announcing that Jonah's shirt had been located and he was changing as they spoke. Rick assured Kate that his publicist would do damage control, and that many of the sites were about to be pulled down for _maintenance_. It wouldn't stop the people who had already saved the images, but at least they'd be pulled off of active websites and blocked from being uploaded to them again.

Alexis looked apologetically at Kate. "I could only delete them from his official site. It's the only one I can access without help."

Kate assured her that it wasn't her problem to deal with, but teasingly decided to make a point to Rick that it wouldn't be happening again without bloodshed. After a few more minutes, Alexis reminded her father that she had a lunch date with some girlfriends and that he himself had to turn in the first few chapters of the new novel. Significantly more at ease, the two Castles left, leaving Kate alone with her thoughts until her son wandered back out. "What did Lex and Mr. Castle want?" Jonah asked, sitting next to her on the couch. Kate tucked her feet under her son's legs.

"Nothing you need to worry about." she informed him, kissing the top of his head. She reached behind her and grabbed the remote, tossing it to him. "Come on, I think Fresh Prince is on."

XxXxXxXxX

The funeral was on Monday. Kate kept Jonah home from school, helping him into the three-piece suit she had bought him for an old friend's wedding only a few months earlier. From the time she let her arms drop from adjusting his tie to the moment they walked back into the apartment over two hours later, he had refused to let go of her hand. They had met both Ryan and Esposito in front of the church before walking in, Captain Montgomery and his wife already seated inside. Kate and Jonah sat sandwiched between the two detectives and a cluster of students about halfway back.

It seemed to go by so slowly. From the solemn pallbearers, to the priest's gently words, to the memorial video projected in front of the altar to the final goodbyes. Kate had already given her condolences to the freshly wounded family at the precinct, but that didn't make it any easier to witness their grief. Mrs. Nichols gave her a watery smile from the first pew, and Kate gently laid her free hand on her shoulder before she approached the altar.

She watched her son's eyes fill with tears as he laid a yellow rose on Aidan's casket, along with all of the other Hunter students in attendance and she swore that her heart was going to shatter. He walked back with a few schoolmates by his side, yet still anchored by her hand. He hardly spoke word until hours later, after she'd made an early dinner for her the other two detectives, and the two Becketts had finally been left alone in the silence of their apartment.

"I don't like it when people die." he had said softly, stabbing his fork forcefully into the cake batter ice cream. His mother took his hand in hers, agreeing wholeheartedly from her place at the opposite side of the counter.

XxXxXxXxX

Rick slumped down in his favorite chair and let his eyes slip closed. He'd attended the funeral of the young boy who had been murdered only a week before, and it was something he never wanted to experience again. If the tiny casket wasn't enough, the memorial video absolutely destroyed his plan to not let any tears betray his feelings. He'd seen Beckett and Jonah only from a distance, in the midst of the rest of the Hunter students and their parents, who had been given the day off from school to grieve. He admired Kate's resolve to stay strong for her son, but he wondered if she would ever let her emotions out, even if it was just to herself. Resolve firmly in place, he picked up the phone and pressed the assigned speed dial number. It rang for several long moments, and just before he disconnected in defeat, the ringing stopped.

"Hey, Castle." she answered the phone tiredly. She had been relaxing on the couch when the phone rang, enjoying the silence after Jonah had retired to his room early to recoup.

Hearing the exhaustion in her voice, he reconsidered his decision to call her at such a semi-late hour. "Hi. Um, were you sleeping? I can call you ba-"

"No, no." Kate said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "It's fine, What is it?"

Suddenly very self conscious, Rick spoke softly. "I was just wondering. About how you were doing. And no lying."

Kate sighed. "I'm fine, Castle."

"I saw you today at the funeral." he revealed, still haunted by the memory of the small casket adorned with flowers. He knew that if one of these types of cases affected him this badly, that several could destroy a person.

She frowned. "You did? I didn't see you."

"I was in the back. I heard that the insensitive sister-in-law was a fan, didn't want to cause a scene." Unbeknownst to Kate, he had arranged for several pristine, personalized copies of his Derrick Storm novels to be publically auctioned off in the young boy's name, and he had a meeting with a board to discuss the possibility of an Aidan Nichols Memorial fund to be started with the proceeds.

"Ah," Kate said understandingly. With all of his public appearances, it was so surprise that Castle would have to be worried about being recognized in the most inappropriate of places. Like on the sidewalk after breakfast on an innocent Friday morning. It didn't make it okay, she rationalized, but it all was a part of the Richard Castle package.

They lapsed into a silence until Rick spoke again. "Do you have cases like this often?"

"Like what? Murders? We obviously have plenty of those." Kate weakly deflected, her emotions still raw.

"Kate." he said seriously. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," she murmured, leaning her head back into the couch and convincing herself that no harm could come from sharing a little with him. "Not too often. But when we do, they're like knives in my gut. Every single time."

"The what-ifs." Rick said softly.

Kate nodded, voice coming out in a whisper. "The what-ifs." she cleared her throat before continuing on. "There was a case, just a few years ago, weeks before Jonah started 1st grade. A little boy had been found in a shallow grave at a construction site. He'd went missing in the three blocks between his house and the bus stop. I still refuse to do anything but drop Jonah off directly in front of school. It took me weeks to squelch the urge to call the office every morning to make sure he was safe and with his class. I even parked outside in a squad car for a few days until the administration took notice."

Castle chuckled. "How'd that go?"

She smirked on her end, and even though he couldn't see her, he heard it in his voice. "Well, if a child isn't present within 10 minutes of class starting, they start making phone calls. It probably pisses a lot of busy parents and truant kids off, but it's worth it."

XxXxXxXxX

When Jonah walked into the kitchen on Tuesday morning, he found his mother standing in front of the toaster, using it for a mirror as she hastily applied a coat of lip gloss. Jonah shook his head, "We have a hundred mirrors in this apartment and you have to do that here?"

"This lip gloss was down here in my purse." Kate explained as he pulled open the cabinets in search of something to have for breakfast. "And the toaster was the closest thing, so get off my case."

"Get off my case." Jonah mimicked her, ducking a swat from the dish towel as he opened another cabinet, his mood obviously improved from the day before. Shaking his head again, he pulled out a bag and began opening it up.

When she realized what he had chosen, Kate scolded him."Cheetos don't count as breakfast."

"It's all we have." He shot back, popping a stale, cheesy snack into his mouth. When she frowned at him, he pulled open a cabinet to reveal an empty space where the cereal and pop tarts were supposed to be. "And even if we did have cereal, we probably don't have any milk." Jonah moved over to the refrigerator and opened the door to prove his point. "See? I drank the rest of it last night."

"Ugh, I'm sorry, buddy." Kate groaned. "I forgot to go to the grocery store after I made dinner yesterday."

"And I didn't remind you." Jonah scrunched his face up before popping another Cheeto into his mouth. "We should know better than to invite Uncle Kev and Uncle Javi over without a backup arsenal of snacks."

Kate chuckled as she pulled her jacket on over her blouse and firmly clipped her badge to her waistband. " Or at least order a bunch of pizzas instead of using up all of our own food. Hey, I put thirty dollars on your school lunch account last week." Kate reminded him, pouring herself a glass of water. "Eat lunch at school."

Jonah frowned at her. "Today's Monday. Monday is fish stick day."

"So?" Kate asked. "You like fish sticks."

"I _hate _fish sticks."

"You do not." Kate chided, rinsing her glass in the sink. "You love fish."

"I do like fish. Fried fish, grilled fish, and even that fish stew you sometimes make, but not fish _sticks_." Jonah protested, wrinkling up his nose. "They're so weird."

"_You're _so weird" Kate laughed, checking her reflection in the toaster again, "Don't they serve sandwiches in the cafeteria, too?"

Jonah quickly checked the menu that was hanging on the refrigerator and then said, "Peanut butter and jelly. I don't like their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They put too much peanut butter on them."

"Well, you'll survive." Kate teased. "Just scrape some of it off."

"Mo-om," he whined.

"Joh-nah," Kate whined right back, stealing one of his cheetos. "Ugh," she made a face. "I don't know how you can stand these."

Jonah shrugged and popped another one in his mouth.

Looking at her son in amusement, she checked the time. "Hey, get your book bag and lets get out of here. I'll grab us some doughnuts on the way if you hurry."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Perpetuating the cop stereotype, are you, mom?"

"Oh shut up," she told him, snapping the dish towel dangerously close to his rear end as he walked away laughing.

XxXxXxXxX

"You know, Castle, you really don't have to be here." Beckett informed him, looking up from her stack of paperwork. It was shaping up to be another long, boring day full of paperwork. She knew that Castle was probably itching for a body to drop, and she felt herself hoping the exact same thing, as sick and morbid as it may have seemed.

Castle made a face before speaking. "Actually, I kind of do." Off Beckett's confused look, he continued. "Mother's getting ready for an audition, and I'm not in the mood to read the part of the slutty old lady. Which apparently _isn't_ my mother, by the way." And under his breath he jokingly mumbled. "They say play what you know."

Kate bit back a grin and shook her head. "I don't know, add some more wrinkles and a few liver spots..." she pretended to scrutinize his face.

"Hey!" he looked at her, faking offense. "I don't have any wrinkles. Do I?" He worriedly pulled out his phone to look in the tiny mirror on the back.

"You are such a girl, Castle." she teased.

"Well, I was raised by one, so, yeah." He slipped his phone back in his pocket triumphantly. "See, I knew it. No wrinkles!"

She rolled her eyes. "Please, you're more of a girl than_ I_ am."

He eyed her up and down, a pretty flush staining her cheeks at his perusal of her body. "Nah," he smiled so the corners of his eyes crinkled. "You're definitely more girl."

"Could you two please stop flirting?" Ryan whined from his desk, as both writer and detective froze. Esposito's grin was smug as Ryan teasingly huffed at the pair.

Rick, deciding to deflect with humor, smirked at him. "Jealous, Mr. Ryan? I can always flirt with you too, if you're feeling left out."

Beckett couldn't help but laugh at the appalled expression on Ryan's face as he quickly refocused on his own stack of paperwork.

XxXxXxXxX

Jonah sighed as he walked down to the bathrooms with the rest of his class. The funeral wasn't had horrible as he'd thought it would be, but he was still feeling a little sad. He hadn't known Aidan at all, but he had been a familiar face around the school. The other second graders were still in daily counseling sessions, but the other students at Hunter College Elementary seemed as normal as could be. As Ms. Eberheart was perched like a hawk halfway between the classroom door and the bathrooms, Jonah idly wondering if she had seen the less-than-flattering cartoons some of the boys had drawn of her. Her demeanor certainly seemed less pleasant than her usual porcupine-like self.

"Hey, was that really your mom?" Jonah's best friend, Matt Costello, asked him, bumping his shoulder as they walked together.

"Was what my mom?" Jonah asked, confused. Matt huffed out a breath and grabbed Jonah's arm, dragging him further down the hallway. Matt stopped in front of the bulletin board, gesturing to a picture. One of Richard Castle and Kate Beckett from the previous weekend. The picture was fairly low quality, but he could tell that, in the photo, his mother's eyes were trained on the mystery writer. A smile lit up her face at whatever the other man was saying as they stood at a crosswalk. Jonah himself had been behind them at the time so he wasn't pictured, but anger flooded the young boy's body.

Sometime during Jonah's stare down with the offending piece of paper, a group of 4th and 5th grade boys had surrounded him. Amidst the catcalls from several of the young boys and the curious chatter of the rest of the students, Jonah vaguely remembered all the times his mother warned him about the dangers of letting his emotions getting the best of him. The times she'd told him it was best to not make a scene and solve things as quickly and privately as possible, no matter what the problem may be.

Inhaling deeply, Jonah tried to calm himself. "What is that?"

"I dunno," a girl named Chloe shrugged from his left side. "I think it's been here since school started."

"Well who put it up there?"

Chloe shrugged again. "Who's that guy with your mom?"

Jonah shifted uncomfortably. "Just a friend."

"Well_ I_ don't see what the big deal is." Chloe giggled. "It's just a picture."

"Yeah." Jonah said, the calm conversation with Chloe had caused the flush that had crept up his neck to almost fade. That is, until one person sidled up next to him on his opposite side.

Zach Riley, the boy he'd told his mother about only nights before, who could never pass up an opportunity to make his schoolmates suffer. "Dang, your mom's _smokin',_ Jonah! I'd love to let her _spank _me."

Before Zach could even laugh at his own tasteless joke, Jonah had leveled him with one punch, causing Chloe and the rest of the girls to shriek as the boys watched in awe.

_So much for not making a scene._

* * *

><p><strong>And, done. Hope no one tries to kill me hahah.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I had to post this from my phone on Saturday, so I just went through and did a few edits here and there. I'm not sure when the next update will come, I have two proms this coming weekend (13th/14th) to go to and another one next weekend. I'll try for Saturday morning again, but no guarantees I suppose, because shit happens. Yada yada yada, thank you all for being so lovely and for blowing up my phone (I really need to shut email-to-phone updates off) and making my friends think I'm popular. Fa'afetai.**

XxXxXxXxX

When Beckett hung up the phone after the less-than-pleasant call from Jonah's school, Castle swore she was going to explode. She stood up and swung her jacket over her shoulder in a flourish, ready to storm the elementary school for blood.

"Wait, Beckett!" Castle nearly jumped out of his chair, a faint memory striking him out of nowhere.

Beckett whirled back around in exasperation. "What, Castle? You're staying here."

"I was planning on it." he shook his head, considering his words. "Just, go easy on him, okay? Jonah doesn't seem like a kid who'd get in a fight over just anything. Listen to what he has to say for himself before dealing out whatever sick punishment you're cooking up."

Kate cracked a stiff smile and tried to joke. "I think sick punishments are your forte, not mine, Mr. Mystery Writer."

"I'm serious." Castle told her, trying quench some of her anger before she made it to the school.

She sighed, sitting back down in her chair. Something about the man in front of her made her want to spill her guts to him about everything. She knew she'd need to take extra care of how much she revealed to him if she wanted to continue being around him. Deciding this was something she could share with him, as a parent to a parent, she began to speak. "I know. It's just, I don't know what's gotten into him. He's been at that school for almost five years and I've never been called into the office because of a behavioral problem."

Esposito, coming back from the break room, overheard her last words and asked. "Behavioral problem? Little Beckett in trouble or something?"

"I think Principal Collins' exact words were 'an altercation with another student that left both with frozen peas on their wounds'."

"Ooh, principal." Esposito flinched. "I offered to call an ambulance before each time the principal called _my _mom. Seemed more efficient."

"See, I'm not the only crazy mother out there." Kate tried to smile again, images of her son with bloody knuckles and bruises floating around in her head. Castle saw the look on her face and nudged her arm. "Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to think of worst case scenarios." he said softly, just before Esposito countered her previous statement.

"Ah, but Jonah's a better kid than I ever was. I went looking for the fights."

"Yeah, I get it, my son's practically a saint. That doesn't give him a get-out-of-jail-free card for whenever he does get in trouble." she sighed, knowing she'd need to be in a rational frame of mind before dealing with whatever problems she was about to encounter at Hunter.

After cooling down for a few minutes, Kate stood back up. "I trust that you boys can handle yourselves in my absence." and she left the precinct to the guys, who began swapping their own "impressive" childhood fight stories.

XxXxXxXxX

Jonah sat outside the principal's office in one of the hard plastic chairs reserved for troublemakers. Across the room sat Zach and his mother, who both looked less than pleased. Blowing his hair out of his eyes, he slumped down, kicking the carpet with the toes of his sneakers and prayed that his mother would get there soon. His bag of peas lay abandoned, dripping on the empty chair next to him as the minutes ticked by.

When Kate stormed into the office, however, Jonah rescinded his plea. But before she could even say anything to him, Zach's mother had stood up.

"It's about time that you got here, Miss Beckett."

"_Detective _Beckett." Kate automatically corrected, narrowing her eyes at the woman, remembering her anything but fondly from many school functions.

"I don't care what your name is! Your little _monster _punched my baby!"

At Jonah's scoff, Mrs. Riley's glare turned to him. "They should expel bullies like you!"

"_Bully_? The only bully here is _your _son! Ask him how many other kids got black eyes 'cause of him!" Jonah spat, ignoring the warning look he received from his mother.

"That's a lie!" Mrs. Riley shrieked, angrily striding across the room towards Jonah.

"Hey, back off my kid." Kate stepped forward threateningly. She almost regretting leaving her gun in her car, but the sight of her empty holster did the trick and the woman backed off, still fuming.

"Your kid is a menace! Look at my baby's poor little face!" Besides a small yet rather impressive bruise on his jaw, Zach Riley looked rather unharmed and a little smug as his eyes roamed his classmate's mother's form.

Jonah clenched his aching fist as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her. Only moments after Kate sat down in the dry chair on the other side of him, the principal's secretary called out for them. They filed into the office to take their seats, two on either side in front of the desk. When Jonah saw the other boy's eyes trained on the seat closest to the one that Kate was aiming for, he took the seat before his mother had the chance. Kate frowned at him in confusion as she took the seat on the far side, putting the two boys in the middle and both parents on either end. Jonah could still feel Zach's glare on him.

"Now, I'm not quite sure what has happened today," Principal Collins began, studying the group in front of him with an inward sigh.

"I know exactly what happened!" seethed the other woman, slapping her hand on Collins' desk.

"And what is that, Mrs. Riley?" Collins subtly patronized the rather unlikable woman. The Riley family had been nothing but a thorn in his side since their son had been put on the waitlist, instead of being directly accepted into the kindergarten program.

"This boy," she quavered with anger, "Attacked my son for _no _reason."

Jonah shook his head calmly. "Ask anyone who was in the hall too and they'll tell the truth. Ask Ms. E, she saw too!"

"Are you calling my son a liar?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed sitting forward.

"Jonah!" Kate scolded his outburst, gently pushing him fully back into his seat.

"Tell me exactly what happened." Collins demanded, looking at both children. Zach just looked to his mother, obviously looking to her to get him out of the mess.

"I-I…" Jonah stuttered, refusing to make eye contact with the principal. He couldn't tell his mother about the picture. He wasn't even sure if she knew it existed, and wondered what would happen to Castle if she didn't. He finally met the encouraging eyes of his mother and felt the tears about to bubble over. He brought his knees up onto the chair and buried his head in them.

Collins chose to leave him alone and turned to the other boy in the room. "What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Riley?"

Zach scratched his nose and stared insolently at him.

"Well?" Collins raised his voice.

"I was just standing there, minding my own business." he insisted, eyes wide. "And Beckett just runs over and hits me, right in the face! So I _had _to hit him back. I didn't mean for it to happen _at all_."

Mrs. Riley turned to look triumphantly at Kate before smirking at Collins. "See! I _told _you."

"Well, here's what's going to happen." Collins said. Jonah lifted his head after wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "I'm going to send both of you boys home for the rest of the day, and you've better have shaped up by tomorrow morning or further consequences will be deemed necessary."

"But-but Zach didn't do anything wrong! He's always such a sweet boy!"

"I'm well aware of your son's track record, Mrs. Riley." Collins said knowingly. "I don't want to have a meeting like this again with you two. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Jonah mumbled as Zach rolled his eyes.

XxXxXxXxX

"Mom, are you going to kill me?" Jonah asked Kate as they left the school grounds.

"Nah, killing you would be too easy. What the fuck happened in there?" Kate demanded, her chest constricting at the sight of the purpling bruise that adorned the area around his eye.

Jonah looked down, not even cheerful enough to point out her profanity. "I-I can't."

"You can't _what?_ Tell your mother why you were punching kids at school?"

"Not kids, _kid_!" he immediately corrected, cringing before the words were even out of his mouth.

Kate sighed. "And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"You don't understand, mom!" He stomped his foot in frustration.

"Well then _make _me understand." His tears brimmed over again. Kate stopped on the sidewalk and turned to her son. Crouching down in front of him, she took his head in her hands. "Baby, what about it is so bad that you don't want to tell me?" Jonah just shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in the crook of her neck as she gently rubbed his back. A few minutes later, he pulled away. Kate stood and took in his red eyes and disheveled composure. Deciding to let the subject drop for the time being, Kate took his damp hand in hers. She knew her son didn't lose his usually steadfast composure for just anything, and it troubled her that he was unwilling to share. Knowing that it at least hadn't been anything horrible that he'd done, since he was scarily forthcoming with his wrongdoings, Kate squeezed his hand gently.

She stopped again in front of the car. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" she said gently, brushing the hair out of his eyes, gently tracing the ring around his eyes with her thumb.

He nodded. "I know, mom. And I promise I will, seriously. I just, I can't right now." Jonah bit his lip in frustration. "I didn't really want to hit him mom, I just..." he trailed off, biting his lip again. "You know, he's the one who made Charlie switch to Country Day. And made Henry stop wearing his glasses because he kept 'losing' them."

Kate sighed grimly, remembering quite clearly the first incidence he mentioned. Charlotte Thom, one of Jonah's best friends who had switched out of Hunter the year before because of _issues_ with other students. The students in question had never been found out or punished, but Kate remembered a day that Jonah had come home fuming. She could still remember feeling angry at the sight of red paint staining one of his new t-shirts, the way her stomach clenched as he'd described the little girl's despair when the rest of it had been poured over her head in art class. Both the Thoms and Kate had ensured that Charlotte would make it out to Jonah's 9th birthday party almost a year earlier, and Kate hoped she could do the same this year.

"I do not condone you punching anybody." Kate said firmly, grasping his shoulders. At Jonah's solemn nod, she pulled him into a hug. "That's one pretty badass bruise." she said into his hair, releasing him from her grip and standing up. Jonah kissed her forehead quickly before turning to open the door.

He pondered the implications for a moment. "Think it's ice cream worthy? You said badass."

Kate laughed a little as he ducked away from the hand that was ruffling through his hair. "Don't push your luck, kid."

Jonah sighed, leaning against the car as he opened one of the back doors. He paused in confusion before turning an accusing gaze towards his mother.

"You parked in the _no parking _zone?"

XxXxXxXxX

Castle couldn't stop glancing at the elevator. The boys had long ago stopped their story session, having been scolded for being a distraction from those actually working. He supposed that sharing the naked-while-stealing-a-police-horse story was a bit much. He thought he was being discreet in his gazing until Ryan raised his voice from halfway across the room. "She'll get back when she gets back." he grinned.

"Dude. Shut up." Esposito kicked his chair. "It was more fun when he thought we didn't notice." As the boys bickered back and forth and tossed paper balls around, the elevator doors opened without them noticing.

"I thought I told you guys to handle yourselves. That included _not_ acting like grade schoolers."

"Hey, Jeeves." Ryan ignored her, greeting the younger Beckett with a grin. His glum mood obviously improved on the ride back to the precinct and he felt well enough to tease the men who were like surrogate uncles to him.

"Hi, Uncle Kev. Working hard, as always?" Jonah asked with a cheeky, sarcastic grin, ducking the pencil that was thrown at him. "I guess not, if you're throwing writing tools at me instead of _using_ 'em." Two more paper balls were thrown his way as Kate rolled her eyes and settled at her desk to start the rest of her paperwork.

The rest of the day at the 12th passed slowly. Since the boys were still banned from touching her new chair after the wheels had broken several weeks earlier on the old one, they were taking turns trying to make Jonah dizzy in their own.

Soon, Jonah decided he'd rather not vomit in front of the entire floor and called a time out, stumbling over to his mother's desk. He looked nervously as his mother before slumping off to the bathroom. When he came out, he saw Castle standing around nearby.

Wondering why he was still wandering around the precinct instead of at home, Jonah decided to talk to the older man. "Hi, Mr. Castle."

"Hey, Jonah." Rick smiled.

Jonah eyed the older man. "What's up? Did my mom sic you over here to talk to me?"

Castle pressed a hand to his chest. "No, actually, and I'm almost insulted that you'd think that of me." he teased as Jonah rolled his eyes. "Has anyone ever told you that you look scarily like your mom when you do that?"

Jonah rolled his eyes again. "All the time. She says my grandma was great at it too."

Rick ribbed him for a few more minutes before he noticed the younger boy absently flexing his small fist. He smiled as an idea formed in his head.

"Hey," Castle looked at the him. "Let's go for a walk, okay?" Jonah looked back at his mother, engrossed in paperwork at her desk. "Don't worry about her, I'll tell her we're going to go grab some snacks. I won't tell her how many candy bars you eat and we can walk really, really slow." he winked.

A small smile appeared on Jonah's face. "Sounds good, Mr. Castle."

"And if my daughter can call your mom 'Kate', you can call me 'Rick', okay?" Castle teased, still a little impressed with Jonah's polite formality. He himself had been conditioned by his mother when she began taking him to fancy dinner parties that she didn't want to be embarrassed at. He wondered if Kate's less-than-unfortunate upbringing had conditioned her the same way.

"Okay. Rick." Jonah smiled again and nodded, as the writer crossed the room to talk to his mother.

"Beckett." he said, sitting down in his usual chair next to her desk.

"What, Castle?" She snapped, before closing her eyes apologetically. "Sorry. It's not you. Just, a little tired."

"I know. Which is why I'm going to steal your kid for a few." Kate looked at him questioningly. "Just to the store and back. I need some snacks, figured he'd be better company than anyone. As long as it's okay with you." He amended, putting on the most hopeful expression she could muster.

Kate glanced across the room to her fidgety son. "I'm not really mad at him, you know."

"I know."

"I just want to know what's going on. This is so unlike him" Kate ranted, clearly frustrated.

Castle nodded. "I figured. Maybe I can get something out of him that'll help you figure out what's going on in his head."

Kate smiled at him. "It's fine, Castle. You don't need to do anything. Becketts tend not to respond well when they're pressured to share."

That sounded familiar to him. "This is completely new information." Castle whispered slowly with wide, almost starry eyes, chuckling when Beckett hit him with a file. "Get out, Castle. And take your fellow nine year old with you." Castle saluted her as he walked towards Jonah, giving him a thumbs up as they raced to the elevator.

"Stay away from the fun dip!" she called out after them worriedly, before shaking her head and returning to her paperwork.

XxXxXxXxX

Rick and Jonah walked slowly back to the precinct. The sticky remnants of a marshmallow bar on his fingers, the younger Beckett looked curiously up at Castle. "Aren't you going to ask me about the fight?"

"No," Rick shrugged. "I think you'll say what happened when you're ready to and not a moment sooner."

Jonah sighed. "Can we sit down?"

"Sure." The duo sat down on a park bench. Jonah was silent for a long moment. "I hate that kid. He's a jerk. He bullies everyone and no one says anything about it. He even hits girls!"

A frown appeared on Rick's face. "Sounds like a real piece of work. I'm glad you hit the little brat."

"That's not all." Jonah whispered. "I didn't wanna tell mom because it'd probably upset her even more. I mean, I knew she wasn't _that_ upset because she didn't make me go to Mrs. Hurst's. But I know she's mad about it." Jonah looked critically at the man sitting patiently next to him. "Rick? I can trust you, right?" After Rick smiled encouragingly, Jonah took a deep breath before blurting out. "Someone printed out a picture of you guys. From Breakfast on Friday. Have you seen it?" At Rick's nod, he continued. "I figured, that's why you guys came over Saturday, right? But, that kid Zach started saying things about her and I had to hit him. That's my _mom_. I couldn't just stand there and let him say stuff about her." He lowered his watery green eyes to stare at his lap. "It's not the first time, either. That he's said stuff like that about kids' moms. I'm sorry I wasn't calm about it, but I'm glad I hit him for it."

Rick exhaled slowly. "You know what I think, Jones?" Jonah looked up at him through glistening eyes, lips quirking at the nickname.

"What?" he whispered, focused on the kind blue eyes trained on him.

"I think your mom is pretty lucky that she has a kid like you." he said honestly, patting him on the leg.

The boy shrugged. "She was pretty mad when she saw my fist in the car. I thought she was going to drag me off to the hospital because of a few bruises on my knuckles. It doesn't hurt too bad now, at least."

Rick laughed. "She's a mom. That's her job to freak out when you're hurt." he paused. "You know, when I was in your age I'd already been in three fights at school."

"_Three? _What for?"

"Well, first, I switched schools a lot. And my mom, she was on Broadway while I was in boarding school. Sometimes kids, and even their parents, would say things to me about her. Especially because my dad wasn't around either." Jonah quickly looked down. Castle reached forward and squeezed his shoulder. "You may not think it now, but she's going to be really proud of you." At Jonah's look of disbelief, Rick quickly amended his observance. "Not for fighting. For defending her honor. Not that she needs it, you know. Your mom is one tough cookie."

Jonah laughed. "She is. She says I'm a little too much like her."

"I can only imagine." Rick smiled at the image of a younger Kate Beckett, as feisty and headstrong as her son was today.

They both stood after a few moments and continued their walk back to the precinct, but before they entered the front doors Jonah stopped him. "Hey, can you uh, not tell my mom about it? I should tell her. Just not right now, okay."

Rick nodded, running his fingers across his mouth in a zipping motion. "Your secret is safe with me."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I've probably re-written this about 5 times, so hopefully it's improved since the first version. And you _may_ be able to expect more regular updates in about a week, but this is my final week of high school & I've got full-blown Senioritis. Anyways, I'll stop talking. You all know I own nothing.**

XxXxXxXxX

Only moments after Castle and Jonah had left, Kate allowed her head to drop and hit her desk with a dull thump. "You okay?" Esposito craned his neck to study her.

"Yep. Fine." she said, in an unconvincing mixture of sarcasm and misery. "Javi, my kid's getting into fights at school. It's one thing when a hockey game gets a little rough and he gets a few bruises. But this is actually fighting other kids."

"_A _fight. _One_. And, if I heard correctly, only two punches were thrown."

"Doesn't matter. I'm his mother_,_" she trailed off, lifting her head to rest her chin on her balled fists.

"That's right." Ryan nodded, ignoring the glare Esposito shot at him. "You're his mother, and it's your job to overreact about _everything_. He'll be okay."

Esposito stood from his desk and made his way to hers, pulling Castle's chair up and wrapping his arm around her. She let her head fall onto his shoulder and made a frustrated noise.

"Get it out now, before that kid comes back. He'll be less likely to spill if you're looking at him like a criminal."

Kate laughed quietly. "You're right. I know. I just don't want him to be one of those kids who tries to solve his problems with his fist."

"Oh, come on." Ryan shook his head. "He's got a better head on his shoulders than that. He's seen enough, heard enough that he knows better."

She nodded. "Yeah, he even came clean about the chair thing." she looked slyly at the two men, both of whom maintained stoic expressions.

"And what is that?" Ryan asked innocently, flipping through a file with ease.

"Covering for my kid? I don't know whether to throttle you or buy you both flowers." Kate knew that the male influences in Jonah's life were somewhat lacking. Both Ryan and Esposito had gracefully slipped into their roles as uncles to the almost-10-year-old, and the fact that they were willing to shoulder the blame for a mere accident endeared them to her even more.

Esposito chucked. "I have no idea what you're talking about, girl." as Ryan's forehead creased in mock confusion.

Kate raised her eyebrows knowingly at them. "Yeah, whatever." she shook her head and turned to rummage through one of her drawers.

Esposito smirked slightly and mouthed a few words at his partner.

"Best. Uncles. _Ever_."

XxXxXxXxX

After he'd convinced Jonah that it was probably time to continue walking back towards the precinct, Castle couldn't help but feel pride for the young boy walking in front of him. Not many kids had the guts that he had, and he had a definitive feeling that it was hereditary. He knew that it would be fitting for the detective's son to be as equally headstrong and stubborn as she was, but seeing it up close and personal was something entirely different. Not only that, but the kid also had a killer sense of humor and was a perfect companion to tease and rib the entire walk back, hopefully taking his mind off of his troubles for a while.

"I'm still waiting for her to kill me." Jonah mumbled as they stepped into the elevator together, and Rick couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Try buttering her up, always worked with my mother."

Jonah sighed, revealing a small package in his pocket. "Got it."

Castle smirked as the doors slowly revealed the familiar bullpen, and he winked at the younger Beckett before they stepped out of the elevator.

As soon as Kate noticed their return, the young boy crept forward, waving the bag of Skittles from his pocket. She rolled her eyes at him and opened her arms. He walked forward into them, speaking into the embrace. "Does this mean I can still go with Matt and his dad tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

Kate sternly spoke into his hair. "I don't know, can you hold in the rest of your violent urges until you can get back on the ice?"

"_Mom_." he dragged out the vowel, eyes doleful.

Kate pulled back to look at him seriously. "I already paid him so I could get rid of you, of course you're going."

Jonah frowned up at her and scrunched his face at her. "That's kinda mean."

She shrugged at him. "I'll be nice mom again when those knuckles of yours return to their normal size. You'd better go put that ice back on them." she scolded, steering him towards the break room. "There should be one in the freezer, wrap it up in some towels and chill on the couch for a few."

Jonah nodded and weaved skillfully in between people before slipping into the break room, going straight for the cookies that were set on the counter.

Rick watched as Kate rolled her eyes and bit her lip, clearly still battling herself internally. Deciding to take a chance, he idly wondered if it was too late to buy that bulletproof vest before approaching her.

Kate looked at him in confusion as he settled into his chair, not even making a quip as he leaned towards her. "Listen. You know your son. Does this seem like it'd be a regular occurrence with him?" Rick asked her intently, watching her eyes dart around in an attempt to not meet his own.

"No." she said finally, her eyes flickered up to his and then back down, briefly hesitating over his mouth. She was hyper-aware of the fact that he was so close that she was breaking in the smell of the aftershave he used, and that he could probably discern the soft, cherry scent of shampoo in her hair. She began to nervously drum her nails on the surface of her desk and forced herself to look up into his eyes.

Rick smiled gently at her when her eyes met his again, wanting desperately to cover her tapping hand with his own. "Exactly. I'm sure this was extenuating circumstances, and he'll tell you when he feels comfortable."

The tapping stopped as she stared at him. "And how do you know this exactly, Castle?"

"Well," he hesitated before speaking again, "He told me." When Kate's eyebrows shot up, he continued sternly, leaning in even closer to her. "In _confidence_. I'm not going to break your son's trust. He'll tell you as soon as he's ready."

"Castle," she began, "What is so bad about this that you are covering for him?" her face was slightly flushed as she pushed her chair backwards to put more space in between them. "If he's in real trouble I need to know, Castle. If this was Alexis-"

He held up his hands in protest. "Kate, I'm not covering. It's not anything bad, really. But Jonah chose to tell me, and he will choose to tell you, too."

Kate, clearly unhappy with this development, glared at him. "I don't know where you get off thinking-"

"Mom!" Jonah called from the doorway of the break room, cutting her off before she could begin to rant.

She turned to him, slightly exasperated. "What?"

Jonah looked down at his feet before stubbornly meeting her eyes. "Leave Rick alone, okay? I'm gonna tell you. Promise. Just not, not right now." He begged her, raising his uninjured hand, first raising his pointer, then all of his fingers except his thumb, and then all but his pinky and thumb. Kate gave him a small smile as she repeated the gesture as he mouthed the words accompanying each finger combination. _I love you._

Knowing that she had been defeated for the time being, Kate let out a huff and stared glumly at her unfinished stack of paperwork. She picked her pen up and then dropped it back on the desk, head snapping to looking critically at them. "Don't think that either of you are off the hook for this."

"Yes, mama bear."

"Yes, Beckett."

XxXxXxXxX

The next few days were just as slow and boring as the previous few. "Welcome to real police work, Castle." she told the restless author when Friday finally rolled around. "Where ID matches take hours and the paperwork can take _days_."

"Tell me about it." Ryan grumbled from his desk. "Is it wrong to hope for a body to drop ASAP? Because in my head, it sounds a little morbid."

"Just a little." Castle pinched his thumb and forefinger nearly together as Kate rolled her eyes. "You really don't have to be here on paperwork days, Castle. I'm sure it makes for crappy writing."

"Yeah, man." Esposito agreed. "I'd use any excuse to get out of here if I didn't think Beckett would make _me _the next body that drops."

They chuckled lightly before returning to their work, the silence only broken by the muttered curses of one Javier Esposito and the sounds of small wads of paper being tossed back and forth carelessly.

Castle, on the other hand, watched in interest. The companionship that the three detectives shared in was intriguing, and he couldn't help but speculate on how the three of them had come to be partnered together. The writer part of him had been so lost in thought that he didn't notice Beckett speaking softly on her cell phone with a grin, nor did he notice a very familiar face approaching.

"Alexis? What are you doing here, Pumpkin?" Castle asked his daughter, who had stepped out of the elevator only moments before. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but you could've called if you needed me."

"She's not here to see you, Castle." Kate bit her lip, grinning.

Rick paused. "Wait, is something wrong?"

"No," Alexis smiled cheerfully. "We just figured, if you can steal hers, she can steal yours."

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" Rick asked her, not at all mad if she indeed _was _skipping, but curious nonetheless.

Alexis smiled indulgently. "We can leave campus for lunch, and then I have a free period. My next class isn't for another two hours or so."

He nodded slowly in understanding, still wondering how he'd missed this development in his daughter's education. "Don't they send newsletters for this kind of thing?"

"Yes," Alexis nodded her head, "I believe it's still unopened on your desk in the study. They sent them out around Christmas break when the rule changed."

"Ohhh," Castle frowned. "Okay, then."

Kate, who had been quickly organizing her desk while the father and daughter spoke, turned to Rick. "Don't touch anything." she ordered. "I'll be back in an hour." She turned to Esposito and Ryan. "I trust that you two can hold down the fort? Make sure you answer the phone if my kid tries to break anyone else's face?"

"You got it." Ryan nodded, eyeing the two other males as Kate pulled her light jacket on on with grin. He couldn't help but smirk as Castle watched, dumbstruck, as his daughter and his muse left.

XxXxXxXxX

"I mean, don't get me wrong, my Gram's great. But, sometimes its nice to hang out with someone a bit less ancient." Alexis stated as they exited the main entrance of the precinct.

Kate had to laugh. "To be fair, I can only hope to look as good as your grandmother when I'm her age." Alexis shrugged in agreement. "So, what sounds good?"

Alexis shrugged. "I'm not feeling picky, you lead the way." Even though she and Kate hadn't spent much time together, she was eager to get to know her better and didn't much care about the setting in which it occurred.

Kate thought for a moment, a small smile beginning to form. "Well, how does pizza sound?"

"Pizza?" Alexis questioned, slightly cautious.

Kate laughed. "Hey, my mom and I were pizza connoisseurs together. We scoped out every great Italian pizza joint in the area."

Alexis tipped her face up, smiling thoughtfully. "Hmm, that actually sounds pretty good right now."

They caught a cab and Alexis curiously listened as Kate relayed an unfamiliar address. When they arrived, Kate led her through a few alleyways until a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant came into view. As they walked through the front door, a wave of delicious aroma hit them both.

The duo slipped into a booth as the only other patrons stood from their own table and paid, and an older man immediately came out to take their orders. As he walked over, a huge toothy grin took over his wrinkled face. "Caterina! It's been too long!" he cried, his Italian accent charmingly overpowering.

Kate stood and embraced him, returning his smile. "Ignazio! _Mi sei mancato!_"

"Ah, I've missed you as well! I just saw your father last week." he smiled happily, turning to the other occupant of the booth. "And who is this charming young lady you've brought today?"

"This is my friend, Alexis." Kate introduced as Alexis stood, grinning at the girl's light blush as Ignazio pressed a kiss to both her cheeks, beaming at her. "Ah, any friend of Caterina is family here."

"Thank you," Alexis giggled as she slid back into her seat, the old man hurrying off towards the kitchen.

Kate sat back down, laughing at the slightly bewildered look on Alexis' face. "That's Ignazio Giordano." she explained, "He was a childhood friend of my grandmother. When she divorced my grandfather and started her pizzeria, he was the first and only person she hired. Now that she's gone and Leni's Pizza is sold, Ignazio has his own business. He uses a different recipe, out of respect, but he still makes some of the best pizza around."

Alexis nodded, inhaling deeply. "It smells heavenly in here."

Kate grinned. "It smells almost _exactly_ like my grandmother's house. She and Uncle Zio made the pizza and pies in the basement. All five of her kids, and then all of her grandkids, folded pizza boxes upstairs. Our mouths always used to water and Zio would always _mess up_ a pizza or two to give to us."

"That sounds amazing." Alexis sighed, smiling at the faraway look in the detective's eyes.

Kate nodded. "It was." she paused. "So about a year after she passed and _numerous _crash-and-burn attempts to recreate her recipe, my mom and I were desperate for a pizza fix. Until we found Zio again, not a single one came close to our standards. They're still not quite as delicious as Grandma Lenora's, but they at least come really close."

Soon, Ignazio brought out a steaming pizza, the same huge smile on his face. The two girls dug in, Kate listening intently as Alexis chatted about school and her upcoming Sophomore year. After this year, Alexis explained, she would have to choose whether or not to start taking AP classes the next year or to wait until her Junior year. The fifteen year old was sorely tempted by the college credit, but she'd heard many horror stories from older students warning her to stay away.

"Ugh," Kate groaned, running her finger on the edge of her plate, collecting the excess sauce and licking it from her fingers. "May is still one of my least favorite months. With scheduling classes _and_ exams, it was a nightmare."

"Tell me about it." Alexis shook her head, taking another gooey bite.

Kate smiled at the younger girl. "Don't stress too much, Alexis. And don't overload yourself. It's _way_ better to take a few APs and score mostly 5's than to take a bunch and score a bunch of 3's and 4's. One year I tried taking like _ten _AP tests and just about bombed every single one."

They discussed the subject a bit more, with Alexis deciding to test out the waters with a few classes with the option to drop down, before she broached the topic that had been nagging at her for days. "So, what's going on with you and my dad?"

Kate shook her head adamantly, reaching for another slice of pizza. "Nothing,"

Alexis sighed. "I know that none of us have really known each other for that long. But I also know that my dad may seem childish. At first. But he's a really great guy."

"Alexis, you've met my son. I'm no stranger to childishness." Kate teased.

The redhead giggled. "Yeah. I figured. But," she trailed off. "I mean, you're different. In a good way. You're not diving into his pockets and you're about as un-bimbo as they come."

Laughing, Kate rested her elbows on the table, cradling her chin in her palms. "Alexis, I don't doubt that your dad is a _great _guy. He can't be half bad, seeing as how you've turned out." At the other girl's flush, Kate leaned forward, trying to explain. "But we're just barely friends."

"I guess...either way, you're good for him. You don't buy into any of the crap, and he knows it. Even just spending time at the precinct with everybody has been good for him. " Alexis said softly.

"And for that I'm glad, especially for you and your grandmother." Kate teased. "But I think you might have been talking to one Maximiliana Jones a bit too much."

At Kate's knowing smirk, Alexis turned bright red yet again. "How did you know?"

Kate laughed. "I've known Maxie since she was a toddler, and she's been setting people up _at least _since then."

Alexis shook her head. "But everything I've just said _is_ true, Kate."

She smiled sadly at the hopeful face of Alexis Castle. "Trust me, Alexis. Anything between me and your father besides this quasi-partnership thing we have going on would be incredibly messy."

"But aren't the best things in life messy?" Alexis pointed out, holding up a piece of pizza. Her eyes widened comically as it nearly dripped cheese and sauce.

Kate smiled a bit sadly as shook her head, helping herself to another slice. Alexis turned her focus to admiring the classic Italian cinema posters that adorned the walls as Kate twisted cheese around her pinky. _They also inevitably burn you_, she thought to herself as Ignazio returned, eager and infectiously happy.

XxXxXxXxX

Sinking into her bubble bath with a content sigh, Kate finally let herself go.

Lanie had claimed she was in need of a date with her "favorite man", so both her best friend and her son were out seeing a new action film and heading back to Lanie's for a sleepover with her nephews. Kate decided to take the opportunity to finish reading a novel that had sat abandoned at her bedside for weeks, enjoy a relaxing bath without interruptions, and just relish a few hours of silence.

She had been thinking about Alexis' words for the better part of the afternoon, and she was thankful that Castle had been called into a last minute meeting so he never saw that her focus had been completely shot. She knew that even entertaining the idea of any sort of non-working relationship with the writer was a horrible idea, but forbidding her brain from that line of thought proved more difficult than she'd hoped.

After the water had significantly cooled, she gingerly stepped out of the tub into and dried off, slipping into an oversized t-shirt. Her damp hair began to curl naturally as she finished the last few chapters of her book, and she closed it with a sigh. Jonah wasn't exactly a gale-force wind of terror, but the empty silence in the apartment was borderline creepy when he was gone.

A few minutes later, she found herself falling into an adolescent guilty pleasure as she flipped through her collection of CDs before triumphantly pulling out her mother's old mix-tape of favorites.

The opening chords of a classic flowed through the air and she began to move around her living room. She still felt herself drawn to oldies stations, and the feeling of being spun wildly around the living room by both her parents to the sounds of The Temptations and Marvin Gaye never faded each time they played. A tentative knock on the door interrupted her mid-twirl and she froze, knowing that know one she knew would be knocking after 9pm without letting her know beforehand. Just to be safe, she quietly pulled her gun from the drawer next to the door and held it close to her side.

She pulled the door open quickly, holding her weapon firmly as the person on the other side jumped in shock.

"Castle?" she realized, recognizing him immediately.

"Hey, Beckett." he said nervously. "Wanna, uh, wanna put your gun away?"

Kate rolled her eyes and slid it back into the drawer as Castle moved to stand in the doorway.

"The Coasters?" Rick raised his eyebrows as the music playing inside became audible.

Kate rolled her eyes once more as she walked back into the room. "Can I help you, Rick?"

Rick grinned at her as he stepped through the threshold, pulling something from behind his back. He held out a familiar, well-worn Marvel notebook towards her. "_Your _kid left this under _my _kid's bed."

Kate sighed, unsurprised. "Of course he did." She looked back at him as she took it from his outstretched hand. "You know, kids usually don't need school supplies until _very_ late on Sunday. You didn't have to come all the way over here tonight."

"I know." Rick slid his hands in his pockets stubbornly, shooting her a grin.

She sighed. "Would you like a drink?"

Rick looked at the glass of red, fizzy liquid she had sitting on her coffee table and shrugged. "Whatever you've got is fine." She returned from the kitchen with an empty glass and a can and he smiled briefly when he realized it was an old favorite.

"You keep Faygo products stocked in your apartment?" he grinned at her, popping the top of a 60/40.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I told you, Castle, my dad's from _Michigan_."

He nodded in realization. "Well, I guess that explains the _Yakety Yak _then too." he chuckled, as another song began to play.

"Nah," Kate smiled. "The Motown music was all my mother. My dad's more of a country man."

Rick nodded, gladly taking in the new information. He slowly walked around the edge of the living room, taking in the variety of pictures that were on the shelves and walls. He paused when he got to one of a younger, very pregnant Kate.

"How old were you?" he asked gently, before realizing she'd probably pull her gun back out and shoot him for even asking. Kate, realizing where his eyes were trained, felt her stomach clench.

"Young." she replied softly before rolling her eyes in self-depreciation. "And utterly unprepared."

"It must have been hard."

Kate laughed humorlessly. "Yeah."

"Where's his father?" Rick whispered, immediately regretting the question when Kate tensed up.

"Gone." she said shortly, turning from him and walking towards the kitchen to refill her glass.

Before he his mind had the presence to filter what questions in his head made it out of his mouth, it popped out. "Why?"

"We were both twenty one, Rick." she said hotly. "And he hightailed it out of there as fast as possible. But we made it out okay. And I'm proud of that, and I'm glad that he isn't around because he never deserved Jonah. He never will."

"I didn't mean to-" Despite Castle's attempted apology, she stalked towards him.

"Get out."

He realized that even though her voice was angry, her eyes were hollow and slightly sad. He didn't protest when she pushed him towards the door until he was hovering in the threshold once more, trying desperately to rectify the situation. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry."

Kate rolled her eyes in frustration as she tried to pretend that the baleful look he was giving her didn't affect her. "Who are you kidding, Castle? Of course you do."

Rick sighed. "Kate," he began, taking a step towards her. She held her hands up in front of her, halting any more movement. "Goodnight, Castle."

He sighed once more, leaning forward and pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek, not even hesitating when she recoiled slightly from his proximity.

"Goodnight, Kate." he said softly before pulling away, her glistening eyes following him as he walked away.

XxXxXxXxX

**Well, you have two options here: review, or don't review. Either way, I already posted this crap. Whether you like it or not.**

**But if you do review, you'll keep me cheerful during exam prep. So. There's that, too.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Yeah, I suck at promptness. Better late than never, eh?**

XxXxXxXxX

She had always known that she was not what one would call a sharer. Her father had told her mother as much when she was barely eight years old. It was a quality she had inherited from him, an inability to let others know their problems, to let others help. He'd found her with bloodshot eyes, wiping at them stubbornly and outright refusing to talk to anyone about what had happened at school that day. They'd sat on the end of her bed for an hour while she denied her tears before giving up, leaving her to curl under her covers and practice smiling without showing her teeth.

She also knew that she had overreacted with Castle, but the memories of that time of her life never failed to bring out the worst in her. She had been terrified, just like almost any young mother, but she had also been stubborn. Unwilling to accept help, unwilling to admit that she might _need _help. But the man who had quietly left her apartment didn't know any of those things, couldn't have known any of those things and she'd treated him horribly anyways. She hated admitting that she was wrong, but she was honest enough to know that she had been. That was the Johanna in her.

Kate tossed and turned for several hours before giving up the fight for sleep altogether. Deciding to be impulsive for once, she pulled on a sweatshirt and jeans and didn't even bother to do more than finger comb her hair. She found herself on Castle's doorstep only 15 minutes later, knocking gently before she chickened out.

It only took a few moments for the rumpled, haggard form of Castle answered the door and looked taken aback when he saw her, whatever scathing remarks about the early hour he'd been preparing dying on his lips.

"B-Beckett," he stuttered, moving out of the doorway. "Come in."

Kate ducked inside, nervously shoving her hands into her pockets. Her heart was pounding as she realized this was it, there was no turning back. She was still tense, Rick noticed, but it was a different kind of tense. She looked almost like a child that knew she was about to be scolded. Before she could lose her nerve, she blurted out the words she'd been thinking for the better part of the early morning, barely a millisecond before Castle's own declaration.

"I need to apologize."

"I'm sorry."

They looked at each other in surprise, a small smile curling on Rick's lips.

Rolling her eyes, Kate shook her head at him. "I overreacted and you know it."

Shrugging, he said "I shouldn't have pushed."

"You've been nothing but wonderful to my son and I had no right to go off on you like that. You deserve an explanation." Kate said firmly, yet unwilling to meet his eyes.

"Beckett," he began.

"Can we sit down?" she interrupted and Rick nodded, gesturing towards one of the couches in the spacious living room.

Kate sat down to face him, leaning back as he settled down next to her on the couch. "I got really lost after I'd had Jonah, you know? Almost as bad as after my mother," She paused, breathing out slowly.

"Beckett, you don't have to-"

"Shut up, Castle, and let me finish." She said unwaveringly, waiting for him to nod his assent before continuing. "I was so messed up. I mean, I had Lanie and she and her family were absolutely amazing to me, but it wasn't the same. I wanted my mom and my dad there, but they couldn't. I ended up doing some really stupid things, and right before Jonah turned 7 months old, I started seeing this guy. I don't even remember his name, but I dropped just about everything for him." She had gotten lost in the "It was a week before I realized what I was doing, and probably broke every traffic law on the way home, convinced I was the worst mother in the world."

When Castle, clearly troubled, moved to interrupt her, she silenced him with her eyes. He was itching to comfort her, wondering if she even noticed his hand touching hers on the cushion.

"It was about 5am when I crept into the house, and Jonah had just woken up. And I held him, and he didn't love me any less, and he didn't look at me any different. I sat on the porch with him and I made a promise. He already had an alcoholic grandfather, a deadbeat father. He didn't need a whore for a mother."

Rick shook his head at her. "You could never be."

Ignoring him, she continued. "I knew that he deserved more, and decided to _be_ more. I graduated from college, entered the academy soon after that. I'm not proud of what I was then, Rick. And I'm sorry for taking out all of my frustration at myself on you, you didn't deserve that."

"Hey, it's okay. I understand."

"No, you don't" Kate whispered, tears building behind her eyes. She made a noise of frustration as she wiped the moisture away. "Ugh, I'm such a raging bitch."

Castle chuckled. "No, my ex-wife is a raging bitch. You, Detective Beckett, are not."

She rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. "_Which _ex-wife?"

He paused contemplatively as a grin broke out across his face. "Both."

She laughed briefly with him, shaking her head in apparent disbelief. He hadn't stopped looking at her, but she couldn't even bring herself to call him out on it. His eyes were warm, and it made her feel even guiltier for snapping at him.

"I should probably go back home, I'll have to get Jonah from Lanie's in a few hours. He'll need recharging." Kate joked.

Rick nodded at her and stood from the couch, offering his hand to her. He was slightly surprised when she accepted without comment and allowed him to pull her up. He walked her back to the door, nearly bumping into her as she stopped abruptly. Kate whirled around and before he knew what was happening, she had tentatively wrapped her arms around his waist. He comfortingly closed his arms around her as she inhaled deeply and then stepped back, eyes bright. "Thanks for not kicking my ass out."

"Thanks for not shooting me when you had the chance."

"Sorry for waking you up."

"I wasn't asleep, I was brainstorming." At Kate's skeptical look, Rick glared at her indignantly. "Are you insulting my work ethic?"

"When your work ethic involves sleeping on the job, yes."

He smiled at her one last time before she shoved her hands back into her pockets and headed out. When the door softly clicked shut behind her, Rick couldn't help but punch the air. He really did feel bad about pushing her earlier that night, but he was almost glad that he did. Sure, his ex-wives could spit venom as well as the next viper, but he had virtually no experience with someone like Kate. He never knew when the next well-placed quip or jab would be, and he found himself on his toes the minute she occupied the same space as him.

Minutes later, his attention was redirected once more by a very familiar redhead. "Dad?" a half-awake Alexis stumbled into the kitchen, her eyes squinting against the bright lights. "Who was that?"

He dimmed the lights before quietly speaking. "Our favorite homicide detective."

Alexis was immediately more awake. "Kate was here? Why? Is something wrong? Jonah?"

Rick chuckled. "No, nothing was wrong. We just talked for a bit."

"At," Alexis looked for the clock. "4 o'clock in the morning?"

Rick shrugged and smiled at his daughter. "The hours of a cop."

In her sleep-induced haze, Alexis was surprisingly quick. "But, Kate said she was taking tonight off." she pointed out, punctuating her statement with a yawn.

Chuckling at his daughter, Rick kissed her forehead. "Just go back to bed and quit being nosy. That's _my _job."

"Actually, it's gram's job." Alexis corrected. "And fine, but I _must _hear more in the morning."

"To bed." he ordered, steering her back towards the stairwell despite her weak protests. Her feet slid on the wood floor as he gently pushed her along and she complained halfheartedly. "I wanted a glass of water."

"Mini fridge in my study. Bathroom sink upstairs. Pick one. Go."

"Dad, you're no fun." she teased, creeping up the stairs as quietly as she'd crept down.

XxXxXxXxX

At a more decent hour of early afternoon, Kate set off to meet Lanie at a nearby park. The medical examiner had phoned earlier with promises of a picnic, but Kate knew it was probably just her way of preventing her niece and nephews from pulverizing her apartment.

Kate saw her friend only moments before two forms crashed into her. She grunted as the two boys tackled her waist, dragging her down to the ground in fits of laughter. She quickly flipped herself over, pinning them both under her and she mercilessly tickled them until tears escaped the corners of their eyes.

"Aunt Katie, I give up! I give up!" the darker boy gasped, while her own son's mouth stayed stubbornly shut despite the deep flush that overtook his face.

She lifted herself up and pulled the boys up with her, her son dusting himself off while the other boy hugged her.

"Hey, Kohen." she squeezed him briefly before releasing him, but not before Jonah hip-checked him and wrapped his arms around her too, sliding his arm around the other boy to pinch and take off running.

Laughing, she made her way to the picnic table where Lanie and her niece sat. Camdyn immediately reached out for Kate and Lanie slid the toddler into her lap, chuckling as the boys raced around.

Lanie shook her head in disbelief. "If only _I_ had that much energy." and Kate rolled her eyes in agreement, running her fingers through the tight curls of the baby on her lap. "She's getting so big."

"You want her?" Lanie offered. "My sister's been trying to get me to adopt her ever since she became mobile."

"Didn't she remember the hell that three boys were?" Kate asked.

She shrugged. "Apparently not. Or she just thought that a girl would be easier, more well mannered. But as soon as this one got her chubby little hands on the toilet paper roll, I think Kendra decided against any more procreation."

The two best friends lapsed into idle chatter, the shouts of the boys intermingling with the babbling of the toddler on Kate's lap. "Girl, you look exhausted." Lanie finally said. "At least I had an excuse for my all-nighter."

Kate sighed. "Castle and I-"

Before she could finish, Lanie's eyes widened with excitement. "Woah, honey. You spent last night with _writer boy_?"

"It wasn't like that, Lanie. Don't look so upset." Kate laughed as her friend pursed her lips in disappointment. "Girl, what am I going to do with you? You have him alone and you what, knit with him all night?" Off Kate's noncommittal shrug, Lanie growled. "_Spill_."

"Later." Kate halfheartedly promised.

"I'm holding you to that." Lanie pointed at her as she pulled a few sandwiches out and called the boys over. She began generously squirting hand sanitizer on their hands but giving up as they began trying to fling the gel-like globs at each other. "Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "A little dirt never hurt I guess."

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey, Castle."

"Yo, man. What's up?" Ryan and Esposito both greeted him cheerfully, the latter on the phone while the former worked intently on his computer. It was late Monday morning at the 12th, and they were already back in the game. Before he could scope the room, Esposito spoke up with a smirk. "Beckett's down with Lanie and the body."

He had missed going to the most recent crime scene, having been chained into a meeting with his manager and his publicist, officially pitching his latest novel to the two testy, demanding women. Deciding to wait for Beckett instead of searching her out, he settled into his usual chair with a content smile so different from his mood only an hour earlier. Gina had scolded him yet again for spending so much time on research, and he had yet again adamantly defended his presence at the precinct.

"What've we got?" Castle asked cheerfully, rubbing his hands together.

Not even looking up from his computer, Ryan filled him in. "Victim found in an alley. Purse and cell phone were stolen, and she was shot in the forehead. A guy cleaning up after his dog found the body in a dumpster."

Castle deflated. "That's kind of boring."

"Hey," Esposito balanced the phone between his shoulder and jaw and pointed a finger at Castle. "We like boring over here. You and Beckett are the ones who like them messy."

"Sorry to disappoint, Javier, but the body has been tampered with." The familiar voice of Beckett carried across the room as she made her way back to her desk, shooting a grin at Castle as he slid a coffee towards her. She took a long sip, letting the boys fidget anxiously before informing them of Lanie's findings. "TOD is closer to 2am, not midnight like we originally thought. Someone had to have iced the body down. That's a lot of effort for a run-of-the-mill mugging."

Esposito sighed. "Why can't it _ever_ be boring around here?"

XxXxXxXxX

Alexis wrapped Jonah up in a quick hug, commenting on the significantly lighter ring around his eye. "You look less Fight Club now." she teased, before releasing him to fist bump her father. She wrapped an arm around Kate in a casual hug before releasing her as well.

"I figured this would be a better use of his time than sitting at the courthouse with me." Kate explained, running her hands down the front of her pants to smooth them.

Jonah turned to face his mother, face scrunched in displeasure. "Can you check my math and stuff when you get back?"

Kate paused. "Baby, I'm sure if you ask Alexis, she'd be happy to do it."

"Oh, yeah. Joh." Alexis smiled. "I'll take _anything_ over my Chem lab. I'm starting to see electron dot structures in my sleep."

Leaving Alexis with an empathetic grin, Kate headed to the courthouse. Jonah quickly challenged Rick to a round on the Castle's Wii while Alexis settled on the couch to work on a study guide. She couldn't help but watch the two's intense competition with a smile. But before long, the nine year old narrowed his eyes. "You're letting me win." He declared, affronted.

"What? No I'm not." Rick insisted.

Jonah rolled his eyes, gesturing towards his hand. "You _so _are. Mom's got a better _left_ arm than that."

"Dad, come on." Alexis scolded with a smirk. "Jonah can beat me at this _blindfolded_. We need some of our family honor back."

Knowing he'd been busted, Rick sighed. "Fine, rematch. All out. But I'm not sure how much honor our family had to lose in the first place."

Rick easily defeated Jonah this time, and the boy took it in stride. "See? Was being honest so hard?" Jonah scolded, an eyebrow raised and the same look in his eye that he got whenever Kate caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to.

The older man rolled his eyes and murmured under his breath. "You are _so_ your mother's son."

A few hours later, Jonah had begrudgingly finished all of his homework and he and Alexis had settled down to watch a movie as Rick typed away on his laptop.

Steeling himself, the younger boy crossed his fingers, remembering a conversation he'd had with his mother only hours earlier.

"_Hey, mom?" _

"_Yeah?"_

"_Can I invite Lex and Rick with us for my birthday?"_

_Kate turned from the sink to look at her son and she read his face easily. He had his lower lip caught between his teeth and he probably had his fingers crossed in his pocket, the classic signs for a nervously hopeful Beckett._

"_It's your birthday, bear." she told him, pulling his hand from his pocket and pulling his fingers apart gently. "I've always said you could invite anyone you wanted." Before he could get too excited, she continued on. "But Rick and Alexis might be busy. Ask them later tonight."_

_Jonah nodded his head before pausing suspiciously. "_Anyone?_ Even the kid who tried to pants you at the Halloween parade?"_

"_Anyone I _like_." she corrected with a smile, but it faded as the grin on Jonah's face became wider._

"_You like Rick?"_

_Realizing her slip, she shook her head. "Nah," she teased him. "But he kind of grows on you, like that mold in the laundry room that no one's been able to scrub off."_

Jonah twisted his fingers in his pocket and turned to look at the two Castles sitting nearby. "My birthday's in a couple weeks," he began nervously. "And mom and I go to the fair every year to celebrate."

Despite his confusion, Rick nodded his head. He'd taken Alexis there several times, and for as long as he remembered it had opened on the same weekend.

Jonah bit his lip before continuing. "I was wondering." he stopped, before blurting everything in a rush. "Mom said it was okay if I asked and maybe you guys would wanna come. We go on Saturday for the fireworks and we play the games and ride everything together and maybe you aren't busy and can come too."

"Of course!" Alexis exclaimed. "Right, dad?"

"Yeah, we'd love to come." Rick smiled, and the young boy immediately relaxed.

"As long as you're not too busy?" Jonah questioned.

"Nah," Rick shook his head, making a mental note to ensure that weekend remained clear of any other obligations. "It's not any day a young man turns 10, right?"

"Right," Alexis agreed, winking at the younger boy as soon as her father turned away, their conspiratorial smiles going completely unnoticed.

XxXxXxXxX

**Whatever. I graduate today. Be nice.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Oops. Sorry this took so long. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, but I'm back on track now and hopefully I'll be back on a weekly posting schedule. Thank you all for not attacking me with metaphorical pitchforks. I'm not _completely_ happy with this one, so hopefully it doesn't drone on or anything. If it does, oh well.**

XxXxXxXxX

Wiping a glob of cake batter off her nose, Kate Beckett glared at her son. The unmistakable sound of Miriam Makeba played in the background as batter seemed to drip from every surface. "You are the _biggest _walking, talking mess that I've ever seen."

Jonah popped a batter-covered finger into his mouth and simply smiled at her. "It must run in the family."

Kate rolled her eyes at him as he stood on his tiptoes to pull another chunk from her hair. "Really, mom. It looks like Charm City Cakes exploded in here."

"Yeah, and whose fault would that be?" She asked pointedly.

"Um," Jonah paused contemplatively. "I blame the mixer."

His mother made an incredulous noise as she wiped her face off with a wad of wet towel. "I don't know what planet _you're_ from, but I blame the person _behind _the mixer."

"I'm from _you_." Jonah told her. "And I didn't know I was supposed to put it all the way in. You always mixed it before!"

"And for good reason, obviously." Kate rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. "At least this was just a practice run and not the actual cake."

"At least it tastes good." he smiled calmly, licking the corner of his mouth with a grin.

"At least I wasn't too attached to that cup. Next weekend, _I_ mix." Kate teased, gesturing towards the coffee mug that had been shattered by their desperate rush to unplug the mixer.

"Indeed." Jonah nodded in agreement, wrinkling his nose as he felt the slide of cake mix down his back. "I really need to shower."

Kate looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "_You _need to shower? _I _need to shower, and I call it first."

"First one done gets first dibs on shower." Jonah quickly bargained.

"Deal. Go!" Kate laughed as she lunged for the nearest rag and whirled to begin her work. They raced around the kitchen with rags, scrubbing the batter from the cabinets, walls, floor and counter, making sure to hip check each other as much as possible.

"Done!" Jonah shouted, just as Kate threw her rag into the sink and sprinted to beat her son into the hallway. "Mom, that's cheating!"

"That's the game, son!" She yelled back as she spun herself into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

"Ugh," Jonah groaned, leaning against the door and sinking down slowly. "I'm putting these clothes in a trash bag."

The unmistakable sound of water nearly overpowered his mother's flippant response of "Whatever!"

Stripping down to his Green Lantern boxers and tossing his goop-covered clothes into a bag, he plopped onto the couch in wait.

Nearly two hours later, both Becketts had been scrubbed clean of the offending mixture and had completed a more thorough attack on the remnants in the kitchen. Jonah tucked his fingers into the belt loop that usually held his mother's badge and leaned into her as they stood back to admire their handiwork.

"You can't even tell." Jonah proudly grinned, too distracted to duck as Kate easily trapped him in a headlock. "You owe me a new coffee mug."

He acquiesced quickly and she released him with a laugh. "You ready to go, Joh?"

He ducked past her out the door. "If I make it to the car first, does that mean I get to drive?"

"No." Kate laughed. "It means you get to _wash _it."

"_Mom!_"

XxXxXxXxX

Less than a half an hour later, Rick scrubbed his head with his towel, feeling exhaustion set in. He hadn't played a real game of basketball in ages, and he firmly decided that he would never take any old college buddies up on any challenges again.

Deciding to find a quicker way to cool off, he leisurely headed towards the ice rinks. Thankfully, the majority of gym rats at the recreational center either weren't the literary type or were just used to seeing him around and he enjoyed the anonymity. He had barely felt the cool woosh of air before something in particular caught his eye. Taking a closer look, he realized that the person sitting on one of the bleachers was _very _familiar.

"Beckett!"

Kate jumped visibly and turned. Obviously confused, she tilted her head at him. "Castle?"

Jumping onto the bleachers next to her, he balanced precariously on the edge as he peered at her. "What are you doing here?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I could ask you the same question. _I'm _here every Saturday."

"An old college buddy challenged me to a game. Couldn't pass it up, came in here to cool off. What brings you here?" He questioned, without pausing to take a breath.

"Jonah plays on the spring hockey league." Kate explained, gesturing towards the ice.

"And he still has all his teeth?" Rick teased, bumping her shoulder lightly and pretending not to notice how close they were sitting.

He didn't miss the edge of Kate's lips turning up. "I'm still thinking about getting a better dental plan. Mine kind of sucks for contact sports."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Castle spoke again. "Mind if I stay for a minute?"

Kate eyed him before sliding her purse between her feet, allowing him to settle further onto the bleacher. A smile curved on his lips as he watched the boys skate out. "This is so cute."

Rolling her eyes, she smirked at him. "Don't let appearances fool you. These kids can be _brutal_."

"You know, I tried to get Alexis into sports when she was young. Tried out one a year and she never really managed to stick to anything."

"Really?" She tilted her head.

Castle shrugged. "She won't admit it, but I think she inherited the artsy genes in the family."

Beckett chuckled as she kept an eye on the boys circling the ice together, taking turns with the pucks. "I _loved _sports as a kid."

"You? Really? I always imagined you as the more troublesome type. Less jock."

"As a kid, Castle. My teenage years…" she trailed off with a grin. "What about you, Castle?"

He shrugged. "Never stayed at any school long enough to really get into sports. And it was more the book clubs that interested me. Some of those nerdy chicks? Hot."

She shook her head in slight amusement before turning her eyes back to the ice. The boys were now lined up near the box, going through the line up and last minute details. The buzz of excitement seemed contagious, and Rick found his lips forming a smile when the boys fist bumped and whooped at each other as the game started.

He watched in fascination as the boys skated around each other, some more skillful as others. He easily picked Jonah out from the other masses of blue and gold, his tall stature placing him a good few inches above the other nine year olds. Rick watched as he gained control of the puck and quickly skated towards the other team's net, passing it to another of his teammates before an opposing player managed to steal it back. As his heart slowed, he recognized an unfamiliar warmth on his hand. Without having to look, he realized that Beckett had grasped his hand and was clutching it tightly. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and saw that she was completely focused on the game, probably completely unaware of her body's reflexes. Her hand's warmth seemed to spread throughout his body and he tried even dragged up to stand with Beckett, cheering Jonah on loudly as his teammates all happily punched him. When they sat back down, he found himself disappointed by her hands remaining clasped and in her lap.

_Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad._ Alexis' loud ringtone startled him and he hurriedly answered, feeling slightly intimidated by the glare shot at him by one of the mothers.

"Hey, pumpkin!" he said cheerily. "What's up?"

There was silence. "Alexis?"

His daughter's tense voice floated to his ear. "Uh, dad? You might want to get home."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Gina's here. And she's kind of pissed. I guess your phone was off earlier and leaving 50 million voicemails wasn't enough."

Castle groaned. "I'll be there in a few, okay? You can lock yourself in your bedroom until I secure the perimeter."

"Thanks, dad." Alexis sighed, clearly relieved. "I have a huge Chem lab due and I'd prefer as few interruptions as possible."

He hung up the phone and turned apologetically to Beckett. Before he could open his mouth, she silenced him with her hand. "Just go. Tell Alexis hi for me." He nodded gratefully as he slid back off the bleacher, but he was suddenly halted by her hand on his shoulder. She jerked her head to her left and he saw Jonah against the glass, grinning and waving. Rick waved back and gave him a thumbs up before Jonah turned to skate back towards his teammates in timeout.

XxXxXxXxX

"Are you sure you don't mind-"

"Alexis. Hush. Who do you think tutored Maxie for months before she _finally _figured out how to balance chemicals without Google?"

Alexis laughed. "Everything was going fine until second semester."

Kate nodded solemnly, a nostalgic grin on her face. "I remember kids having breakdowns in class near the end of the year. But, I went to a school that catered to science and math nerds so anything below a solid A was devastating."

"_I _was going to have a breakdown if Gina didn't stop shrieking. Dad was not happy to see her and let's just say that she makes focusing on anything except her impossible."

"Well, you're always welcome here. And my apartment, of course. We're only still here right now because our hall carpet is getting replaced." Kate explained.

The pair walked companionably through the bull pen, surprisingly empty, even for a Saturday afternoon. A few people milled about, but for the most part, it was quiet. Kate led her to her desk and pretended not to notice the number of starburst wrappers littering it.

"Hey, Joh!" Alexis grinned when she spotted the familiar young face.

Recognizing the voice immediately, Jonah perked up. "Hey, Lex!"

Pulling up a nearby chair to sit across from him, Alexis spoke again. "What are you reading?"

He slid his fingers in place before closing the book over them, holding the cover for Alexis to see.

Alexis smiled in approval before wrinkling her nose. "Ew, you stink."

"Hey!" Jonah protested as Kate turned in amusement.

"That stench is what I live with _every _hockey season." Kate ignored Jonah's protests and denial as she complained to Alexis.

"It's not stench! It's _effort_."

Kate gave him a teasing grin. "Yeah, well your effort smells like something _died_."

"It's not too bad." Alexis tried to placate, fighting her own smile as the boy frowned.

"Nah," Kate rolled her eyes. "You should get a whiff when his gear hasn't been washed in a game or two. That'll knock out a couple brain cells. Want anything to drink?"

"Um, water's good." Alexis nodded and she turned to Jonah as Kate headed towards the break room. "I didn't know you played hockey."

"Yep." Jonah smiled, " I'm one of the best on the team."

"Also modest." she teased as he made a face at her.

Jonah shrugged. "I suck sometimes too. But at least I can admit it."

"Point." Alexis agreed. "So what position do you play? You definitely don't have a goalie's build."

As Jonah began an animated tirade, Kate returned with three water bottles and bopped him on the nose with it. "Abridged version, kid."

He cracked open his water and took a sip before speaking again. "I try to score goals and _don't_ let anyone score on us."

"Better." Kate nodded in approval as she turned towards Alexis. "Okay, let's see what you've got."

Nearly an hour later, the cell phone on Kate's desk began to ring, startling both girls out of their haze. "Beckett." Kate answered, brushing a lock of dark hair from her son's face as he rested his head on the corner of her desk.

A mocking voice answered her. "Castle."

Kate turned to Alexis. "It's your dad," she mouthed silently, snapping back to attention as he began to speak.

"Have you by chance seen my progeny?"

"Perhaps." She answered noncommittally, winking at the redhead.

Rick could hear the smile in her voice. "Is she with you?"

"Yep." Kate popped the last letter. "Something about you getting a little, ah, vocal, with your publicist."

Still frustrated, he sighed into the phone. "She can't take no for an answer. I give her all the book details she wants, and now she wants me to do some interview next weekend."

Alexis, sensing that the detective hearing about the afternoon activities at the Castle's, gently shook Jonah and pulled him up to walk with her to the break room.

As soon as her son was out of earshot, Kate sighed back at him. "Rick, it's not that big of a deal if you can't make it. Jonah would understand."

"No, it _is _a big deal. I promised him I'd be there and I'll be there. I don't break promises." Rick said adamantly, making sure the door was dead bolted so his ex-wife couldn't make a return.

Kate narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "All those times you _promised _to stay in the car?"

"Okay, fine." He admitted. "Promises to _kids_. Is Alexis okay?"

"Just fine. Balancing chemicals like a pro."

Rick sighed. "Good. Well, tell her to call me when she's done."

As soon as Alexis opened her package of crackers and slid her change away, Jonah pounced. "So?" he whispered furtively, "What's going on?"

Alexis sighed, looking out the break room window as Kate frowned into the receiver. "Some magazine wanted an interview with dad next weekend."

Jonah frowned, eerily similar to his mother, but before he could speak Alexis cut back in. "He told her no way, thankfully. He'll reschedule." Alexis knew her dad well enough to know when he was serious. And he was definitely serious about not letting neither Kate nor Jonah down on anything.

She turned her attention back on the boy in front of her, his green eyes focused through the window on his mother. "What?" Alexis asked him, wondering what had the nine year old so deep in thought.

Jonah shrugged. "I dunno, I mean, it's just _different_. Even when she's kind of mad, she's kind of happy too."

Alexis nodded in understanding. Both she and her grandmother had also taken notice in a slight change in behavior from her father. It was too soon to label or credit it to any one factor, but she was sure that the appearance of the Beckett family in their lives had at least _something _to do with it. The fact that her father was so willing to drop other obligations only further cemented the fact. Alexis found herself happy that she had brought up the subject of Jonah's upcoming birthday, for if she hadn't, she wasn't sure she would've thought that spending more time with the Becketts may be just what she and her father needed. Jonah had been more than willing, excited at the prospect of spending more time with Rick, and hoping that his mother and the writer would find themselves getting along even more.

They watched as Kate hung up the phone, a half smile on her face even as she huffed in annoyance.

"That's not a mad face." Jonah whispered proudly. "That's an "I don't know why I put up with you" face. I get it _all _the time."

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey, kiddo." Martha breezed into the loft with an airy gait.

"Hello, mother."

"Well, don't sound so happy to see me."

"It's not you." Rick grumbled. "If I ever get married again, make sure the woman _isn't _a vapid bloodsucker, okay?"

Martha sat across from her son, sinking into a chair with a sigh. "Gina, I presume?"

Rick nodded as he swallowed down the rest of his Scotch, walking back to the kitchen to refill it with water.

"She wanted me to blow off Detective Beckett and her son next weekend for an interview blurb in a crap magazine."

"Ah," Martha nodded. "You turned it down?"

He shrugged. "I told her I wasn't going to do it, and have them either reschedule or forget about it."

"Where's Alexis?"

"She's on her way home, she left when things got a little hairy."

Martha nodded in understanding. Gina was not her granddaughter's favorite person by a long shot. Checking her watch, the actress stood suddenly. "Well, I must get a move on if I'm to make it to the gala tonight, don't wait up."

Rick made a face as he finished his water, watching his mother head back out the door, forgetting what she'd come home for.

Ten minutes and one flustered return later, the door opened once more. "Hey, dad!" Alexis called out.

He smiled at his daughter from the kitchen before schooling his face into a mockingly serious expression. "Homework done?"

"Yes, father. You want to put a gold star on it?" She smiled cheekily.

"Nah, I'll settle for a kiss." Rick teased and she leaned over towards him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "How is our favorite detective?"

"As fine as she was when you saw her earlier today." she retorted, slinging her bag onto her shoulders and heading towards the stairs.

"What do you want for dinner?" he shouted after her.

Alexis dipped her head back down to be visible from the top of the stairs. "You cooking?"

Rick looked around the kitchen as if he was looking for another person. "I do believe so."

"Okay." Alexis said slowly. "Then, anything that you can find in a recipe book. Not any of the weird ones you find on Amazon or anything. If I see a marshmallow that's not accompanied with sweet potatoes, I'm calling the health department."

Her father looked at her with ire. "You were so much fun when you were little and ate everything without complaint."

Alexis grinned down at him. "Well, one of us has to make sure we don't die from food poisoning."

XxXxXxXxX

"Mom?" Jonah crept towards his mother, who was curled up on the couch with a case file and a book.

Kate looked up at him curiously, setting her book down on the coffee table. "Yeah, baby?"

He took a deep breath and crossed his fingers. "I'm ready."

"Ready for what?" she looked at him with a confused expression.

"That fight at school. I promised I'd tell you and I'm ready. But can you promise you'll not get too mad? At anybody? Well, besides Zach. You can get mad at him." Jonah rushed out.

Kate smiled indulgently at him. "Depends on what you have to say."

"Mom." he moaned. "Please don't go all cop on me."

"Okay, _fine_. Spill." Kate opened her arms and her son crawled into them, tucking his head into her neck as he began to speak.

An hour later, when he'd talked himself out and she'd gone from nervous to horrified to proud, she pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead.

"You know I don't like fighting." she began softly into his hair, feeling him nod sleepily against her. "But I also don't like bullies. And I don't like when anyone says stuff like that to you. But it was as wrong of him to say that as it was for you to hit him for it." Kate smiled teasingly, gently. "Even if it _is _my honor at stake." Jonah laughed into her hair as she lightly tickled his sides. "And I want you to know, that I am proud of you. Even when I'm angry at you. And not just for this, but for everything."

Jonah shook his head. "I know, mama bear. And for the record?" he tilted his head up. "That black eye was totally badass."

"Ugh," she groaned, pushing him up off her as she stood, stretching her muscles out as they both yawned. "To bed with you. Go, go!" Kate hit him with a pillow as he took off towards the bathroom. Watching him disappear down the hallway, she slowly sunk back into the chair, falling deep into thought.

XxXxXxXxX


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So, I'm actually pretty happy with this chapter. I've written the entire thing to Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Ros, so maybe that's it? Either way, I'm posting this earlier than I'd planned because of graduation party mania and more possible travels, since I feel bad about my sporadic posting tendencies. Edit: I was told that this wasn't showing up for some people, so I deleted and reposted it. I hope that fixes whatever the problem was.**

XxXxXxXxX

Early Sunday morning, two sharp knocks woke Richard Castle from his peaceful slumber. After a few moments of pretending he didn't hear it, the knocks sounded again. "What?" he groaned out loudly, raising his arms up to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

"Dad!" his daughter's voice called from the other side of the door.

Groaning once more, he rolled over and called to her. "Come in, 'lexis."

They had long before established boundaries, always knocking before entering the other's room, but it was early mornings like these that he wished his daughter had also inherited his night owl tendencies.

"Dad." she repeated, once she was settled on the pillows opposite his head.

Turning slowly from being buried in his pillow, he tiredly scrutinized his daughter. "7 o'clock in the morning? Well, you're not bleeding, so there goes that theory. What's up?"

Inhaling deeply, the teenager began. "So, last night, I was brainstorming-"

"Now _that's _a scary thought." he turning his face back into his pillow.

"Ha ha." Alexis deadpanned, lightly swatting her father's still-sleepy form as he mumbled incoherently.

"So, you were thinking," Rick groggily prompted her, slowly pulling himself up to sit against the headboard.

Alexis smirked at her father. "You know how Kate told us to not get Jonah any presents?"

"Uh oh." Rick moaned, falling back onto his pillows. "Need I remind you that the aforementioned detective is allowed to carry concealed weapons?"

"No." Alexis smiled patiently. "But you might need to remind me what a wonderful daughter I am."

"Okay, wonderful child of mine," he replied dutifully. "What's the big idea?"

Without hesitation, the redhead conspiratorially leaned forward. "Well, I was thinking…"

XxXxXxXxX

The next morning wasn't an improvement from the previous. At exactly 6 o'clock, Rick's phone began to ring. He turned blindly, hitting the talk button and pressing it to his ear before groggily speaking.

"'llo?"

"It's Beckett."

Slightly more alert, Rick pushed himself up. "Beckett. New body?"

"Yep." the detective sighed. "And I have a feeling you're going to like this one as much as I do." He couldn't see it, her nose was wrinkled in aversion to the already powerful odor on her end. This one was most definitely_ Beckett-flavoured_.

After getting the address, he balanced the phone between his shoulder and jaw as he wrestled his jeans over his tired, uncooperative limbs. "I'll be there in 15."

Hours later, the bullpen was a flurry of activity. Leads were coming in left and right, and they were all just barely managing to keep up.

In a brief period of leisure, Kate broached the subject that had been at the back of her mind all morning. Turning to both Ryan and Esposito, she spoke casually. "Hey, you game for dinner on Sunday?" A longstanding tradition with "her boys" was a fairly eventful evening at the Beckett apartment, always the Sunday closest to Jonah's birthday. The menu, activities, and guests were always a negotiation process between the detective and her son, and this year was no different. While it wasn't as ridiculous as his wish to have a cowboy party, complete with real horses and bb guns, his request this year was no less harebrained. Except this year, for lack of better judgment, Kate gave in. She inwardly sighed, not knowing whether she should be dreading or looking forward to spending an entire day in Richard Castle's company.

Esposito perked up immediately. "For Baby Beckett's birthday bash? Definitely."

Kate rolled her eyes at the moniker but nodded. "I'm making mostaccioli casserole." she informed him of her son's meal choice, adding the tempting declaration of "Extra cheese."

"I'm in, too." Ryan added quickly, his eyes eager and excited. Beckett's grandma's mostaccioli casserole recipe was notorious among those at the precinct, and would coerce even the hardest of homicide detectives and the most stubborn of little boys into compliance.

"Hey, he's going to be _ten _now." Lanie teased, striding into the bullpen with a file clutched in her hands. "You might not get away with that "Baby Beckett" crap for much longer, Javier. When my nephew hit ten, you could barely _hug _him without some damn whining." Lanie warned lightly. "Here's that paperwork you asked for. Don't get used to it, the morgue is not a delivery service."

Kate took the folder from her teasing friend's hand as she continued to joke with Esposito. "You'd better watch out, homeboy. That kid'll be tossing you around in no time, mark my words."

"Yeah?" Esposito shot back cockily. "I can take that squirt, any day."

Lanie grinned even wider, well-aware of the former soldier's ego. "We'll see if you're singing that same damn tune when he can snap you like a twig." Turning towards Kate, the medical examiner continued. "You know if you're making that mostaccioli I'll sure as hell be there. Kendra said she and the kids'll come up, too."

After Lanie left, Kate spent a few minutes flipping through the autopsy and making additions to the murder board. She then passed the file along to the other detectives and she was soon left alone with her thoughts as Esposito and Ryan volleyed ideas back and forth with Castle. Despite all the distractions a new case provided, Kate felt melancholy settle over her.

Without warning, she felt her throat close up and the all-too familiar feeling of tears burgeoning behind her eyelids. She abruptly stood, rolling her chair back forcefully and startling not only Castle, but Ryan and Esposito as well. She briskly walked away, praying that none of them noticed the rebelling tears forming in her eyes.

"I'll be…right back." Rick told them after a few tense moments, rising to follow her. The looks they shot him were enough of a warning he'd ever need. _I won't hurt her_, he thought firmly, as he turned into the hallway she'd disappeared down.

He rushed towards the nearest bystander, asking hurriedly as he looked around for any hint of her. "Detective Beckett. Can you tell me where she went?"

She pointed Rick towards the stairwell, and he took two at a time until he nearly tripped over her on the next floor. She acknowledged his presence with a brief flick of her eyes, but other than that, the sounds of her labored breathing and soft sniffling were the only sounds.

"You wanna talk about it?" he whispered, sinking down on the landing next to her.

"No," Kate whispered back, silently cursing the tears about to fall as she struggled to inhale normally.

Rick nodded silently, sitting against the wall with her in silence until he spoke softly once again. "Can _I _talk?"

Kate let out a quick breath, almost a laugh, even as a renegade tear curled itself around her chin. "Never stopped you before."

He chuckled lightly before gently settling his hand on top of her clenched fist. When she didn't recoil from the touch, he began to speak. "You know, I never learned how to ride a bicycle."

"What?" Without permission, a laugh bubbled up in her throat. Her heart was racing, but she was unsure if it was due to emotion or the lone finger he was caressing her knuckles with.

"It's true!" Even through the glistening of tears, he could still see the skepticism in her eyes. "Mother is not and never was an outdoors-y person, and I never liked any of her flings enough to even play catch, let alone listen to long enough to master the art of riding without training wheels."

She sniffed, wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand. "So you can't ride a bike."

"Nope." Rick popped,

"How did you even get around as a kid?" she choked out, her throat still thick with tears. The memories of being chased down the sidewalk by her father and his camera, skinned knees, of long afternoons riding around her old neighborhood with her friends and her last trip with her mother, a bicycle trail through Lilydale Park in Minnesota on one of her mother's infamous "just because" trips flooded from her memory.

Rick grinned at her. "_I_ couldn't ride a bike. Doesn't mean nobody else I knew couldn't. Lacey Morris. I think I clutched onto her from the back of her bike every day for a year. Great chest."

Kate shook her head in disbelief, closing her eyes against the tears still threatening to fall. "Castle."

He held his free arm up in defense. "I was eleven! What was I supposed to do? Ignore it?" he gasped, like it was the worst thing he could think of doing at that age.

At Kate's strangled laugh and smile, the corners of his eyes crinkled. They sat in silence for a few more moments, the sound of each other's breath the only noises. Finally, she spoke again.

"You promise not to judge?" she weakly tried to tease, her heart still hammering away in her chest.

He responded without even a hint of humour in his eyes. "I promise."

Kate looked down at her hands nervously, watching Rick's finger move over hers. She twisted her other hand into her hair as she let her head rest on the wall behind her, eyes slipping closed. "It's stupid."

She could hear the smile in his voice as his soft voice echoed around them. "I'm probably the only grown man in New York that can't ride a bike. Try me."

Kate shrugged slowly, breathing in the smell of his cologne before speaking. "I don't want him to grow up."

"That's not stupid." Rick told her gently. "That's being a parent."

She hummed noncommittally. "For the longest time, Jonah was all I had. After my mom," she paused. "Well, my dad and I didn't speak for weeks after her funeral, and besides dragging him out of bars, I hardly saw him. I didn't even tell him I was pregnant. I knew I should have, but Jonah wasn't even born yet and he already had one person fail him. He didn't need another."

She hadn't expected to see her father in the grocery store that day, when she was eight months pregnant and desperately craving french fried onions and blini. The memory of her father stumbling along the international foods aisle was something she knew she'd never forget. The way he'd dropped to his knees and stared at her stomach like it was something from another planet. The smell of bourbon and the tears in his eyes. He went in and out of rehab before finally cleaning up for good when Jonah was three, appearing on her doorstep in a button-down shirt and slacks that were a few sizes too big, and a cautious smile on his face.

"And now he's growing up, he's going to be in middle school next year, and I feel like…I want him to experience the world, to pave his own way, but it's like he's halfway to twenty. To being on his own, to not needing or _wanting _me around."

Despite the heartbreaking sincerity of her words, Rick couldn't help but chuckle. "Have you met your kid? He's _completely _yours. I doubt that, that age or time or maturity will _ever _change that."

"I wish my mom could have met him. I hate that she isn't here to be so proud of him. To spoil him completely rotten." she whispered suddenly, slowly turning her hand around in his. Their fingers slowly entwined together as she used her other hand to wipe the last traces of moisture away. Holding his breath, Rick tentatively reached forward with his free hand, using the base of his index finger to brush away the tear on her chin. He slowly let his breath out when Kate didn't push him away, and he held her eyes for a few long moments. They finally looked away, both intimidated by the emotions they saw in the other's eyes.

"Come on," Rick stood up, using the hand still entwined with hers to pull her to her feet. He let his fingers gently squeeze hers before releasing them. "You hungry?"

XxXxXxXxX

The later that night, Kate found herself being bombarded by text messages from a very anxious medical examiner. Apparently, someone had let it spill about her near-breakdown in the middle of the bullpen and her and Castle's subsequent disappearance for the rest of the afternoon. She made a mental note to threaten Javier Esposito with mall cop duty a little more often.

After spending about twenty minutes in the privacy of her bedroom, recounting nearly all of the details from the stairwell, she wandered out into the main living area. Kate pretended not to notice Jonah scribbling down a few answers on a worksheet before sliding down in his chair to continue read his newest literary obsession, deciding to fight the homework battle another day.

"Ugh, Lanie." Kate groaned into her phone, falling backwards over the arm of the couch.

"Don't _ugh, Lanie _me." Lanie sassed, rolling her eyes even though Kate couldn't see them. "You've got it bad."

"I do not have it-" Well aware that her very perceptive son was only yards away at the table, she lowered her voice. "I do not have it bad for anyone, let alone _Rick Castle_."

Lanie smirked. "Did I say anything about writer boy?"

Rolling her eyes, Kate retorted. "You implied it and you know it."

"Now, don't go and be putting words in my mouth." the medical examiner scolded lightly, enjoying the hole her friend was digging for herself.

"I don't have to. I know you well enough." Kate shook her head,

"And I know _you_." she pointed out. "Listen, honey, you and that hard head of yours may _still _not be willing to see it, but I do."

Kate groaned. "Lanie."

"Okay, okay." Lanie acquiesced, knowing now was not the time to push. "Fine. Tell me the plan for Sunday, you know how much I hate going into these things blind."

Unable to keep the smile from her face, Kate let her head fall back. "Well, dinner here at about 5, you know that much. Jonah wants us all to play this new interactive Clue game, so we'll do dessert after that."

"Really? The son of a homicide detective wants to play a murder mystery game? How original."

After hearing his name, Jonah looked up from his homework only to see his mother's bare legs hanging over the arm of the couch. Quietly leaving the table, he crept forward slowly, waiting for a lag in conversation on his mother's side before springing.

"It's not nice to talk about people!" Jonah yelled, standing between her legs and letting himself fall backwards.

"Hey!" Kate cried in surprise, unprepared for her son's back to fall on top of her, his hands twisting behind them to dig into her sides.

"Lanie, gotta go." Kate managed between laughter, balancing the phone near her ear so her hands were free to flip Jonah from on top of her body to the floor next to the couch.

Hearing the commotion on the other end, Lanie couldn't help but smirk. "Call me later, sweetie."

XxXxXxXxX

"Did you do it?" Alexis, returning home on Thursday evening from an after-school study hall, made a beeline for her father as soon as she was in the door.

After Alexis planted the seed of idea in his brain, it seemed to miraculously grow overnight into a full-blown scheme. One that had the potential the backfire right into their faces, but even though he acknowledged that chance, the possibility that it would all work out perfectly was as much of an incentive he'd ever need. "Yes, my little co-conspirator." Rick joked. "Locked and ready."

She beamed. "You're the best dad _ever_."

Rick shook his head in mock bitterness. "Always with the surprise. It should be common knowl-"

Alexis clapped her hand over his mouth, kissing his cheek lightly before releasing him. "Don't blow it. Kate'll kill us both. Or at least you."

"Yeah, yeah." Rick sighed, a small smile on his face as he watched the fifteen year old take to the stairs with an excited skip.

Martha, perched on a nearby chair, merely shook her head at him. "For a writer, you seem to be awfully unobservant with your own feelings."

Shaking his head dumbly, he turned back to his glass of water and drank deeply. "I have no idea what you're talking about, mother."

"Mmm." Martha hummed skeptically. "So you and your _lady friend _are going to the fair in Belleville."

"Yes, mother. You know that." _After Hurricane Gina, I'd be surprised if the entire building didn't know_, he added silently. "And whatever connotations "lady friend" has in your head, get them out." The last thing he needed was his mother's interference, especially considering her flamboyant attitude and flair for drama.

She looked at him innocently. "Well, I'm sure Detective Beckett is very much a lady. _And _your friend."

Rolling his eyes, Rick turned pointedly to the newspaper on the counter, flipping through it dispassionately as his mother smiled knowingly in the corner.

XxXxXxXxX

When Saturday morning finally rolled around, Jonah found himself getting antsy. It was looking to be an absolutely gorgeous May weekend, but he couldn't help but scan the sky for signs of clouds, looking for something, _anything _that would ruin his carefully constructed plans.

"Do you have the tickets, mom? You know how much it sucks to wait in line." he badgered, following the slightly irritated woman from her bedroom to the living room. "_Mom_. Do you?"

Kate huffed out an annoyed breath before forcing herself to answer patiently. She had since decided that it was, in fact, her _son's_ day, and that she would make the best of it, no matter what or _who_ happened. "_Yes_, Jonah, they've been safely put away _all week_. Like I've told you the last 12 times you've asked."

"Let me see." Jonah demanded, unsatisfied and wanting visual proof as reassurance.

Grabbing her purse from the dining room table, Kate began to rummage around in it. She looked curiously at the inside before her face fell. "Oh, no." She looked guiltily up at her son, whose eyes had widened almost comically as his face paled. "Shit."

For once not calling his mother out on her swearing, Jonah gaped in horror. "You _lost _them? How could you? Mom! "

Kate looked away briefly before shooting him a twisted grin. "Gotcha." She produced four small pieces of paper, safely tucked away in her wallet.

"Mom!" he gasped for breath, slightly winded by panic.

She shook her head in mock disappointment, eyes dancing with mirth. "You are _so _easy."

"You're not funny." Jonah protested, moving closer to ensure that the tickets were indeed the real thing until a soft knock on the door interrupted his scrutinization. "They're here!" he jumped up, almost like a deer.

"Chill out." Kate grinned at him as she moved towards the door. Before she got very far from the couch, however, Jonah rushed forward. "No! I got it!"

She rolled her eyes, his body slipping nimbly by her as he darted towards the door. "Whatever."

Only seconds later, Richard and Alexis Castle were greeted by a wide-eyed, out of breath child. "Hi!" he enthused.

Alexis found her voice first. "Hey! Happy birthday!" she leaned forward and hugged him before offering forward a small bag.

"Thanks." he beamed, lifting the bag from her fingers. "But you weren't supposed to get me anything."

"We know." Both Alexis and Rick said. The older man smiled down on him. "Feel any older yet?"

"Nah." Jonah shrugged. "Not yet. But this is my last night _ever _of single digits!"

"Don't remind me." Kate, coming up from behind him, kissed him lightly on the head. "Makes me feel old."

Jonah rolled his eyes at her. "You're not _that _old."

"Thanks for the reassurance." she said sarcastically, prying Jonah's fingers off the door and pulling him backwards, beckoning both of them forward into the apartment.

As they stepped into the living room, Kate turned to both of them with a genuine grin. "I'm glad you guys could make it."

Rick gave her a warm smile. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

XxXxXxXxX


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I don't even have the dvds in my possession anymore. My teacher has hijacked them and I can only hope to get them back one day.**

XxXxXxXxX

Kate slid into the drivers seat of Castle's SUV with a cheeky grin, as a pouting Rick managed to bully his giggling daughter out of the passenger seat.

"Come on, at least let me pick a CD." Rick prostested as Kate also manned his radio, glancing back at Alexis until they both silently agreed on a station. "This is so not fair."

"Careful, Rick." Kate teased, adjusting the seat and mirrors before buckling herself in. "You're sounding awfully a lot like the ten year old in the backseat."

"Hey!" both Rick and Jonah protested, earning Rick an _told-you-so_ look from Kate.

She was still smirking as she slid the keys into the ignition and the pout on writer's face was the source of much amusement to both Alexis and Jonah as they started the drive south, until the man found another distraction. He began stealthily fiddling with the radio, changing the station from the one Kate had selected to one of his presets, flipping down the line in an attempt to find a satisfactory song.

Ten minutes later, as they pulled back onto the road, Jonah smiled at Rick sympathetically as he ducked down in his new seat. "Happens to the best of us." he whispered across the rear seat, jumping as his mother turned up the volume to a song with a catchy beat.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rick caught the huge grin on Kate's face in the rearview window as she and Alexis sang the chorus.

"Girls." Rick shook his head at Jonah. "They'll always be out to get us."

XxXxXxXxX

Bouncing from foot to foot anxiously, Jonah looked up at Kate before turning to Rick. "You're tall, do you see the water gun game?" Soon after arriving, the four of them had steadily made their way through the games right inside the main entrance, but now that they had reached the midway, Jonah was eager to find his favorite.

Peering around quickly, Rick shook his head before grinning. "Wait a second." Without warning, he stuck his hands under Jonah's arms and easily hoisted him above his head, a burst of laughter escaping the boy's lungs as his legs kicked the empty air. "See it?" he called up to him.

"I don't think so." Jonah sighed as he was settled down to the ground. "We'll go look for it!" Before Kate could protest, Jonah grabbed Alexis's wrist and began to lead her away. "Be right back!"

The redhead and her determined companion quickly vanished into the crowd, causing Kate to let out a long sigh.

"You okay?" Rick teased.

"Mmm." she hummed noncommittally. "Weighing the pros and cons of a little GPS transmitter under his skin. I _hate_ when he runs off in places like these."

"Bad idea." Rick said immediately. "Tried it with Alexis when she was six, and my mother tried to murder me. Chased me around the house with a fake axe from props. "

"Damn." Kate sighed in mock disappointment, fighting a grin as they both sat down on a nearby bench. The image of the seemingly docile-tempered Martha Rodgers chasing around her son with a fake axe was too great _not _to picture.

Less than two minutes later, she heard a familiar voice calling out to her. "Mom! Over here!" Kate turned her head and spotted her son waving his arms above his head, his eyes wide and eager as Alexis tried valiantly to push Jonah through the crowd back towards the safety of their respective parents.

Shaking her head, Kate grabbed Rick's sleeve to tug him along with her and the two girls dragged them both to meet each other halfway. "You know," Kate told him, once she was within comfortable earshot. "You don't need to smoke signal. Your highlighter yellow shirt basically does the trick."

Jonah frowned. "I _like _this shirt. "

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that mustache on it really gives it a nice touch."

"It has character." Jonah protested.

"Like you don't have enough of that."

"Whatever. We have to hurry! The line wasn't too long when we saw it." Jonah said excitedly, reversing the roles and dragging Alexis back the way they came.

After a solid minute of enforced speed walking, the Castles and Becketts found themselves in front of one fo the many booths lining the midway. Eight stations were set up, each with a mounted water gun and a stool in front of it, and a track with brightly colored cars on the other side.

"Ready, mom?" Jonah asked, as the most recent set of players vacated their seats.

Kate grinned at him. "Ready to kick your wimpy butt."

"_Not _wimpy." Jonah huffed, "But I want the green car."

"The color's not gonna help you, kid."

"Wanna bet?"

Jonah paused thoughtfully. "Winner gets the last jellybeans in the jar."

"Deal." The two shook hands before Kate turned to hand the game operator money for everyone to play a round.

Both Kate and Jonah took seats next to each other, Jonah with the green car and Kate with the blue, and Alexis chose the purple car next to Jonah while Rick chose one next to Kate with an orange car.

Turning her head to eye the writer, she raised an eyebrow. "Think you've got what it takes?"

"Oh, Detective Beckett, I am a water gun _champion_." Rick puffed, glaring over both Kate's and Jonah's shoulders at his daughter's skeptical expression.

Kate simply smirked at him. "We'll see."

They all settled into their seats, each testing their reflexes before the operator started the game. "Ready, set, _go_!" he called, and they all grasped the triggers.

"You think that your cop training'll really come in handy for this, Beckett?" Rick murmured, not tearing his eyes away from his car.

Kate smirked, even though he couldn't see it. "More than your precious fingers stuck to that keyboard of yours will, Castle."

Their focus was almost comical. Jonah's tongue was poking out of his mouth, resting against his upper lip, while Kate gnawed on her lower one. Rick's face was pinched in concentration, and Alexis simply narrowed her eyes and stared resolutely at her car. The seconds dragged on, the plastic cars gaining and dropping leads as they raced towards the finish line at the end of their respective tracks. The final bell dinged, and each of them looked at each other

"Who won?" They had each been focused on their own cars that they hadn't bothered to pay attention to each others.

The operator motioned to a small screen behind him, which replayed the last five seconds of the most recent race until a new one was completed. With bated breath, they all waited to see whose car finished first. They all seemed neck and neck, orange, blue, green, and purple, until one pulled away from the rest and beat the rest by nearly an inch.

"_Alexis_?" Rick asked incredulously.

"Dang it." Jonah groaned, despite his willingness to high-five Alexis after she danced around victoriously. Alexis and Kate high fived each other for good measure and Alexis turned to her father with a triumphant grin.

"Who finished second?" Jonah whirled on his stool to eye the man behind the counter.

"Blue." he replied easily, and Jonah squinted at the screen until it was verified.

"Oh!" Kate cheered as she watched her car touch the wall just after Alexis's. "Two for the ladies, _zero_ for the boys." She and Alexis slapped hands once more, still grinning when the operator offered Alexis her choice of small stuffed animals.

Five minutes later, the boys were still sulking as Alexis proudly carried a plush dog under her arm.

"So, we've got games covered," Kate began, sneaking a glance at her son who was walking on the other side of Rick, his pout was becoming less prominent as his eyes took in the familiar yet still enchanting sights of the fair. "Rides? Or food?"

"Rides before food, always." Rick said firmly.

With an approving grin, Kate bumped into him lightly. "Good choice."

Nudging into Kate's other side, Alexis whispered into her ear. "Once, when I was seven, he loaded up at the Continental breakfast at Disney and hurled _all_ over the Dumbo ride."

Failing to contain her laughter, she had to settle for faking a coughing fit as she surreptitiously wiped the corners of her eyes as Rick aimed his suspicious gaze on both of them.

XxXxXxXxX

They had full-access passes for the day, so they decided collectively to not skimp out on the rides. Even the drop towers, a point of contention between Jonah who loved them and Kate who despised them, were fully appreciated by the group.

As they approached the gate to ride the _Tornado_, a small girl slid herself in front of Rick.

Rick looked down at the pigtailed head, all blonde hair and blue eyes and popsicle smears. "Hey," he began, but before he could finish, the girl stuck her purple-stained tongue out at him and slid under the bar.

"Hey, you can't cut." Jonah protested, watching with wide eyes as the girl was let in and Rick was held back to wait for the next ride.

"We're full, buddy." the attendant shrugged. "I can only let in 30 people."

"Cutting's not fair." Jonah shook his head before turning to Kate. "Mom, you should arrest her."

Kate laughed as Alexis shot a sympathetic glance towards her father. "I don't have my cuffs, buddy. Besides, what would I take her for?"

"A gross lack of human decency." Rick offered, his own protests having gone ignored by the attendant, who had walked away to prepare the ride.

Rolling her eyes, Kate led Alexis and Jonah to an empty gondola, ushering them both inside before shrugging back at Rick, who had given up and leaned moodily against the railing.

Once the ride started, the three of them took turns in spinning the wheel inside as fast as they could. Jonah quickly realized that talking inside of the ride made his voice sound almost alien, and began speaking in gibberish as the girls cracked up. Their uncontrollable laughter was only stopped once they'd been released from their restraints by the haughty look on Rick's face as he stepped through the gate for his turn.

"You'll be so kind as to wait as I rock this ride out like it's never rocked before." Rick called, unable to resist shooting a glare at the line cutter as she exited through the adjacent gate.

"You go, Rick." Kate called to him, once he was seated with two kids who couldn't have been older than 8 and their preteen companion. "Show them grade schoolers how it's done."

They chatted idly as they waited for the ride to end once more, taking turns spotting the most uniquely dressed person.

"Why would you put a garbage bag on your _head_?"

Alexis shrugged with an amused smile. "Maybe he thinks it makes him look cool."

"It makes him look _homeless_."

"Well," Kate tried not to laugh. "Maybe it's the style from where he's from."

"Pretty sure they don't have people on _Pluto_." Jonah protested, unable to tear his eyes away from the bag-wearer.

"Don't stare." Kate lightly chastised, and they watched the ride slowly come to a stop.

"Fun?" Alexis asked, once Rick rejoined them on the other side of the gates.

"Apparently," Rick huffed, looking thoroughly windblown and haggard, "_Mindy _gets carsick. And didn't think a spinny ride would make her feel sick."

"Ew, vomit?" Jonah asked, as Alexis sniffed his sleeve curiously.

"Why would you _smell _for it?" Kate mouthed to her, and the redhead shrugged.

"He looked too clean for puke." she whispered back, before they both turned their attention back to the older Castle.

"Worse." Rick sighed dramatically. "High pitched _screaming."_

XxXxXxXxX


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I kind of popped this one out fast, so for the love of God tell me if there's any mistakes or general sketchiness. I don't usually make sense when I'm this tired. Oh well. Read on.**

XxXxXxXxX

"Bumper cars!" Jonah grinned as the semi-enclosed ride came into view.

"How're we gonna do this?" Rick asked, rubbing his hands together with a grin. "Men against girls?" he teased. "Castles against Becketts?"

In unison, both Alexis and Jonah interrupted him. "Kids against adults."

"Really?" Kate asked in surprise, glancing at both Alexis and Jonah as they beamed conspiratorially.

"Afraid you'll lose?" Jonah raised his eyebrows at her. Alexis turned to her father, a challenging look in her eyes.

"Against you, my small prodigy?" Rick asked the fifteen year old rhetorically. "Ha!"

Alexis and Jonah looked at each other with matching grins, not bothering to disguise them even as they strapped into their cars.

The ride began, and it soon became obvious that one team had the upper hand.

"Ugh," Kate groaned after she exited her car next to Rick, rubbing her jaw line. "My teeth feel like they've been rattled by an earthquake."

"You?" Rick asked incredulously, cracking his back with a groan. "You weren't the one being used as a human _shield_."

Ignoring the half-hearted glare he sent at her, Kate shook her head. "Look at us. A couple of grown adults completely schooled by our own offspring."

Their children were celebrating a few yards away, making up an elaborate handshake of sorts, something that involved Alexis spinning Jonah around like a ballerina and a few bows.

Rick laughed at the sight. "It's good that they're brilliant."

"Brilliantly _conniving_." Kate laughed as well, nudging into his side.

"That too." Rick grinned at her, lightly wrapping his arm around her. She stiffened slightly, and he gently rubbed his fingers on her hipbone. She forced herself to relax, leaning slightly into his touch as the two children made their way back over.

"Any more games or rides? Because I'm starting to hear my stomach." Alexis pouted, turning puppy dog eyes onto her father who was struggling to crack open a icy water bottle with one hand.

Wholeheartedly agreeing, Kate nodded her head, discreetly stepping away from Rick to straighten her son's shirt. "I don't care where we go, as long as deep fried _anything _is not on the menu."

Rick nearly choked on a sip of water, earning him the confused glances of the other three.

"You okay, dad?" Alexis asked with a slightly bemused smile.

"Yeah, fine." he nodded his head, trying to shake the memories away as they began to walk once more.

They made their way up to a stand with a secluded seating area, eager for a break from the constant rush of noises and sights that the midway provided. They quickly ordered, sending Jonah and Alexis to find an empty picnic table. Much to Kate's disapproval, Rick slid two twenties across the counter before she managed to even reach into her wallet.

Rick glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "You paid for games and rides, remember?"

"So? _We_ invited you." Kate argued indignantly.

Rick shrugged. "I owe you a meal, remember?"

"Whatever." Kate rolled her eyes, realizing that there was no winning the argument when he had already paid.

A few minutes later, they managed to balance the four trays piled with enough food to feed a small army to a picnic table in the back, where they began to dig in to the assortment of pizza, burgers, corn dogs, and fries.

"Oh so greasy and expensive, but oh so _good_." Alexis murmured with a mouthful of cheese fries as Rick nodded in agreement.

"So, Jonah, any big plans for this new year?" Rick asked with a teasing grin to the boy next to him.

Jonah shrugged, chewing on a large bite of a sugary elephant ear. Before he could finish and open his mouth, however, a high voice carried over to them.

"Is that _Richard Castle_?"

With a sigh, Rick closed his eyes before locking apologetic eyes on the girls across from him. Alexis shrugged sympathetically, while Kate simply bit her lip and looked down.

"Why is she pointing?" Jonah whispered, taking in the behavior of both Kate and Alexis and leaning into Rick nervously, glancing up at the woman who had nearly shouted in her excitement.

Rick dropped his head, trying to hide himself from view as he spoke to the boy. "When fans see me, sometimes they want pictures and autographs."

"Well that's stupid." Jonah said, forgetting to keep his voice low until Kate shushed him and he dropped his voice back down to a whisper. "You're just a writer."

"Thanks." Rick said flatly, smiling slightly at him as the woman was dragged away by her annoyed male companion.

Alexis twisted around in time to catch the woman's disappointed glance before turning back to her father with a laugh. "That was a close one."

They let their food settle and relaxed at the table, inspecting a map of the fairgrounds and carefully planning their last few hours.

"Hey guys," Alexis began, tracing her hand over a small icon on the map. "Wanna photo booth it?"

Alexis quickly convinced the photo-shy Kate to join them, and they all soon found themselves taken by laughter as they were all crammed into a small booth.

"Look, there's all sorts of stuff in here!" Jonah held up a large box filled with oversized sunglasses, hats, and other ridiculous accessories. With a grin, Rick slid a Sherlock Holmes-style hat onto Kate's head only moments before she "accidentally" elbowed him in the gut.

"Sorry, Castle." she grinned. "There's just not enough room in here."

They all stood stone-faced for one shot before Kate grabbed Jonah by the waist and they mugged for the camera, as Rick twirled Alexis as much as the confined space allowed. They quickly switched positions as Rick and Jonah assumed "macho" positions and Kate and Alexis blew kisses at the camera. Then, for the last picture, Alexis dragged Jonah to her and bumped Kate's hip so she went flying into her father, whose arms immediately came around her to steady her as the camera flashed one more time.

Minutes later, Kate took one look at their strip of photos and shook her head. "Oh, lord." She pretended not to see the last frame, with Rick's arms wrapped around her as both of their children hugged and grinned.

"What? I wanna see." Jonah wiggled under her arm and tilted her hand down so he could look at the strip. Kate immediately tightened her arm around him, effectively trapping him in a headlock.

"Hey, it's my birthday, not fair." Jonah protested, twisting his neck to narrow his eyes at her, not even bothering to struggle against her strong arm.

"Hmm, yeah, 10 years ago _I_ pushed out a 7 pound poop machine." Kate ignored Jonah's disgusted groan. "Shouldn't _I_ be getting the presents?"

Jonah rolled his eyes. "That's why there's _Mother's_ Day."

"And if I recall correctly, _this _mother spent Mother's Day driving her hockey-obsessed son to a tournament in Buffalo, right?"

Sighing, Jonah kissed her wrist. "Yeah, you're the _best_, mom."

"So heartfelt." Kate laughed, releasing him with a smacking kiss on the head. "Just know that I reserve the right to have my _own _Mother's Day. At any time."

"Only if you stop talking about my birth." Jonah wrinkled his nose as Rick let out a boisterous laugh, earning him his own glare from Alexis as they all made their way towards the craft stands.

XxXxXxXxX

"Wait, I wanna do one more game." Rick halted them as they made their way towards the exit, turning to Jonah and ignoring the exasperated looks he was getting from both Alexis and Kate. "Wanna come with?" Darting a quick glance at Kate, he grinned down at Jonah. "Come on. On me."

Eyes widening slightly, Kate bit her lip. "Rick-"

"Come on." Rick repeated. "The way I saw him handle that hockey stick? This game'll be a piece of cake."

Jonah, who had a rather impressive red tire with wings painted on his face, beamed at the praise and turned his hopeful eyes onto his mother. "Mom,"

"Ugh." Kate groaned, unwilling to argue and cost them more time. "Fine."

"Yes!" Jonah cheered enthusiastically and before she knew it, they had weaved through the thinning crowd towards the other side of the midway.

"Well, I guess we'd better get comfortable." Kate sighed, spotting a bench and leading Alexis towards it. They settled down and Alexis immediately dropped her head onto her shoulder, yawning.

"I'm so tired." Alexis mumbled, closing her eyes and sinking into Kate.

"It's kind of sad." Kate shook her head in disappointment. "The two nine year olds are outlasting us."

Alexis laughed lightly. "Makes sense to me. We use up all of our energy keeping them under control."

"You have a point there, Lex." she nudged the redhead lightly. "I'll wake you up when I spot them."

"Mmm." Alexis hummed,

Kate let her cheek rest on the top of Alexis's head, scanning the area idly, looking for any signs of the two males. After about twenty minutes, she made out the fluorescent yellow of Jonah's monocle and mustache shirt, and the much larger form of the writer next to him. What she failed to notice, however, were the two bags they held in their hands.

"You got him a _fish_?" Kate asked incredulously once they'd reached her, taking in the bag that her son held proudly.

"Actually," Rick smirked. "I got you _both _fish."

"_Two _fish? Rick-"

"They're so cool mom." Jonah interrupted excitedly. "They're not even the usual goldfish, they're the Japanese ones."

Kate raised a single eyebrow as she regarded Rick emphatically. "So I not only have to buy one bowl, I have to buy two or they'll kill each other."

Rick's face fell.

Kate shook her head, taking in both Jonah's hopeful grin and Rick's sudden nervousness. "Fine. You big babies. We'll keep the damn fish."

"Damn." Jonah scolded. "Now we're really keeping the fish."

XxXxXxXxX

"You going to be okay driving?" Rick asked her as they reached his SUV. He had noticed that she kept yawning on the walk from the bench to the lot, her arm firmly around Alexis as they both nearly sleepwalked to the car.

Kate nodded. "You can ride shotgun this time. Keep me awake with your babbling."

"Hey," Rick grinned, not in the least bit offended. "Without my babbling, there wouldn't be any books, and then where would we be?"

Kate rolled her eyes with another yawn. "In peace."

Alexis quickly fell fast asleep in the back, her head leaning against the window and a sweatshirt pulled over her. Jonah, on the other hand, was as wide awake as ever, keeping an eye on the two fish as he re-read a Harry Potter book. He studiously ignored the hushed banter flying back and forth between the two adults, glancing up at them infrequently to shake his head in confused amusement.

After one particularly suggestive remark, Rick shook his head at Kate in mock disappointment. "You do realize that our children are in the back seat." Realizing what he said and what it sounded like, Rick stammered to correct himself. "Not-I mean, I didn't, they're-not _our _children, we didn't, I mean, our respective childr-_fuck_."

"Mom, does it count if _he _says fuck?" Jonah interrupted, saving Rick from further embarrassment. The small book lamp illuminated his face, making him look almost ephemeral as he grinned slyly at Kate.

"Yes. He should know better." Kate scolded with an amused smile. "Ice cream? On Castle?"

"Is there anywhere open?" Jonah lowered his voice, aware of the sleeping girl next to him.

Rick nodded knowingly, his earlier uneasiness forgotten. "I know a place."

When they were back in Manhattan, Rick instructed Kate to stop in front of a small, sketchy-looking store. "Be right back." he grinned at her, sliding out of the passenger seat and walking into the gray, windowless building. After several long minutes, she bit her lip slightly, eyeing her surroundings and weighing the pros and cons of leaving the SUV unattended to make sure Rick was still alive.

He returned after what seemed like an eternity, holding three tubs of ice cream with pride, unaware of Kate's internal dilemmas.

"How did you know?" Kate asked, gesturing towards one of the large tubs he carried once he was back in the vehicle. There was no way that he just so happened to pick up her favorite flavor.

Rick shrugged with an impish grin. "I'm a writer, it's my job to notice the details."

Kate regarded him with a suspicious look as she pulled back onto the road, chewing on her lower lip as she drove silently back to her apartment.

XxXxXxXxX

After ordering Rick to settle a sleeping Alexis on the couch, Kate set the two tanks on the counter, rinsing them out methodically before filling them with water. Next to her, Jonah rinsed off a few silk plants and a strainer full of colorful rocks.

"You're lucky we still have all that stuff from Bubbles." Kate bumped into her son sharply, sending him sliding nearly a foot on the tile.

"Bubbles?" Rick queried.

"She was my 3rd grade class's fish." Jonah explained, rubbing his hip with a glare.

Kate shook her head in remembrance. "He got suckered into taking her home over Christmas break. I've never met a more high-maintenance fish. I'm pretty sure I had to spend $30 at a specialty store just to make sure the little fucker would make it back to the classroom."

"Just because you said "fucker", I'm naming them both."

"Fine." Kate shook her head. "You know, in the beginning, I thought that this would break the habit. But I think he only makes it worse."

"I do." Jonah grinned, his fingers buried in the rocks as he made sure each layer got rinsed. After a few minutes, the rocks and plants were added, the tanks were filled, the water was purified, and the two betta fish were gently released into their new homes.

Kate leaned against the counter as she regarded the two tanks with slight amusement. "Okay, now feed them so Castle can ensure that they're well-kept and can go home."

Jonah, who was opening a small tube of frozen brine shrimp, turned to Kate with wide eyes. "It's not safe for them to drive home this late."

"It's not even midnight." Kate countered, dry swallowing an aspirin she was sure she'd need after being jostled around all day.

"So, you're a _cop_." Jonah countered back. "You know the dangers of the road, especially with a sleepy or distracted driver. And Alexis isn't even awake to make sure he doesn't crash or anything."

The two had a staring contest for several moments, Jonah crossing his fingers and Kate wondering when her son became an expert on driving hazards. "Ugh, fine." Kate sighed, too tired to argue with her relentless son. "Castle, air mattress okay with you? We can just leave Alexis on the couch."

Rick nodded in agreement, and Jonah darted into the hallway to pull the air mattress from the closet and into his room.

Kate turned to him apologetically. "Sorry, I know you guys probably wanted to get home tonight."

"Nah, I don't think Alexis minds a bit." Rick chuckled. "Are _you _okay with this?"

Kate shrugged. "I'm too tired to argue."

Eying her critically, Rick put a hand on her shoulder. "If you're not, I'm sure Alexis wouldn't even budge if we-"

"Rick, it's fine." Kate sighed, wiping her eyes and bending down to take off her shoes, dislodging his hand from its resting spot on her body.

"You should get to bed." he said softly, taking note of the way swayed slightly when her eyes were closed.

"You look as tired as I feel." Kate chuckled, opening an eye to survey his face. "So should you."

Rick grinned. "I'll be okay."

"That's my line." she teased lightly, walking towards the kitchen. "You thirsty?

"Water's good." he shrugged, following her into the kitchen and leaning against

Kate flicked on the faucet, letting it run for a few seconds before sticking a glass under it. "Jonah really likes you."

"Alexis really likes _you_."

Smiling softly, Kate exhaled slowly. She handed him the glass and watched him take a long gulp before he sat it back on the counter and faced her.

"I just," Kate sighed, turning away and resting her hands on the edge of the sink, leaning into it, training her eyes on the drain. "Sometimes, it's easy to forget that he's barely ten, you know? But he can…he's so vulnerable sometimes. And I just, I need to know that this isn't, that you're not going to hurt him. Because he can't have any more people hurt him. So many have left already. I don't think we could..." Kate trailed off, wincing as she dug her teeth into her nearly raw bottom lip.

"Kate." For once, he dared to use her first name. "Look at me." When she refused to move, he moved to stand next to her at the counter, setting his hand on top of her nearest one. He curled his fingers around hers, gently sliding under her fingertips and prying them from the counter. He took her and brought it to his side, forcing her to turn into him. "Kate." he repeated. When she finally brought her eyes to his, he was taken aback by the myriad of emotions swirling in them. Worry, doubt, sadness, nervousness, and was that fear? He pressed a kiss to her palm before brining their joined hands to his heart. "I wouldn't do anything that would hurt him. Or you."

"Not knowingly." she whispered, unable to tear her eyes from him, silently begging him to understand.

"Listen to me, Kate. I would _never_. I promise."

His heart ached as she sniffled, turning her head back towards the sink. He gently caught her chin, bringing her back to him. He dipped his head down to meet her eyes, hoping that they were conveying all the things he couldn't bring himself to say. After a long moment, she dropped her head down and let out the breath she had been holding.

"He's probably still trying to figure out how to hook the mattress to the pump."

"Kate."

"Okay." she whispered. "I…I believe you. For him."

Rick nodded slowly, knowing this was the best that he would be getting from her, at least for the night. "I'll go help him figure it out."

"Like that'll help." she said softly, her eyes holding a hint of mischief as they met his once more.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I became an air mattress expert during my college years."

She halfheartedly rolled her eyes, quietly untangling their hands before walking back into the living room and pulling a blanket off the back of the couch, draping it over Alexis. When she turned around, Rick was still staring at her. "Go." she jerked her head towards the hallway. "My kid's probably tangled in cords by now."

With a small smile, he finally tore his eyes from hers and made his way towards Jonah's room, her heart still pounding in her chest as he disappeared from view.

XxXxXxXxX


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: ****I didn't forget about Jonah's present from the Castles! It's just...waiting at the loft for him and will make an appearance _probably_ next chapter. And t****hose of you who asked for my tumblr, I'm hede-nyuie dot tumblr dot you know what, I think you know how it goes. Although, I'll warn you, I post a lot of stupid crap. And I sometimes bitch about my little sister adding Kidz Bop songs to my writing playlist (lots of Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, Bon Iver, and Santigold) So. Follow at your own risk. But say hi, if you do. And, you know, read.**

XxXxXxXxX

Barely conscious, Kate Beckett sleepily attempted to roll over, only to find herself half-entangled in the other human occupying her bed. A human whose cold feet were firmly tucked under her warm ones.

"Joh?" she sleepily whispered, wiping the sleep from her eyes before prying them open, wiggling her toes over his. She turned her head and found herself blearily looking into her own eyes, mirrored in the face of her son.

"Morning, mama. Rick talks in his sleep." Jonah whispered, wide awake and with freezing fingers and toes.

"Mmm." Kate mumbled, rolling over to fully face him. "Say anything interesting?"

Jonah shrugged as best as he could on his side. "Only if you count _'There's a helicopter landing on the ceiling!_' as interesting."

Laughing, she pressed a kiss to the side of Jonah's lips and mustered the willpower to sit up, dragging his relaxed body with her.

"Okay, J-Mac. Up and at 'em, Atom Ant."

"Uff." Jonah groaned, flopping back down on a pillow before remembering what he had left behind during his brief visit to the kitchen. "Rick's making breakfast."

Immediately more alert, her eyes widened. "He's _what_?"

Trying to relax her, Jonah dropped his head in her lap. "Don't worry. I showed him where all the important stuff is. And he and Lex went to the store for some other stuff."

"He _what_?"

Jonah sighed, putting his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back down. "Go back to sleep." He told her, patting her cheeks and kissing her forehead. "I'll make sure nothing is on fire."

He quickly slid out of her bed and tiptoed across the room, leaving his mother behind in the silence.

She took a few moments to close her eyes and stretch before rolling over to get up for the day. She dug around her nightstand for a hair tie before she gathering the tangled mess of curls in forcing them into a sloppy bun. She slowly walked to her door to crack it open and was immediately greeted by the scent of fresh pancakes. Deciding it was most imperative to check out the state of her kitchen, she pushed the door open fully and padded into the hall.

When she reached the halfway point she stopped abruptly, suddenly very aware of the fact that she was only wearing a pair of knit shorts and a slightly oversized tee that almost covered them completely. She briefly contemplated throwing on a pair of yoga pants or even jeans, before shaking her head. _Stop being such a girl,_ she told herself, and shuffled the rest of the way into her kitchen.

When he caught sight of her, Rick's face split into a grin. "Morning, sunshine." At Kate's halfhearted glare, his grin just got wider and she suspected that it wouldn't be disappearing for a while. Especially when she realized that his eyes spent more than a few seconds on her bare legs. _Should've gone for the sweats, _she sighed internally, but without real regret. If he felt it necessary to parade around _her_ kitchen in his boxers, she could damn well wear her own pajamas. Ignoring his gaze, she walked further into the room and slid onto one of the chairs.

Alexis leaning at the island table, looking as bright-eyed as ever as she paged through a familiar book. Jonah was perched next to her on a seat, and it was him that Kate suspected of pulling her copy of _The Comedy of Errors _from her room. She also noted that his own copy of _The Word Snoop_ was face down on the table, his brightly colored sticky notes peeking out from the pages like tiny flags. She figured it was only natural that her book obsessed son and the daughter of a professional writer would be knee-deep in books before 9am on a Sunday.

"Morning, Kate!" Alexis greeted, slightly guilty. "Sorry I kind of crashed last night."

Kate gave her a look. "Please. I _wish_ I could've crashed like you last night. I had to tuck in both Jonah _and_ your dad."

Alexis giggled as her father's affronted look, and it turned into a full blown laugh as he tried to make a face behind Kate's back.

Skillfully ignoring him, Kate's worried eyes flicked around the remarkably immaculate room, save for a few splatters on the counter tops nearest to Rick. "What are you doing to my kitchen?"

Rick returned his face to normal and merely smiled at her, gesturing at his impressive pile of pancakes and the stove still in use, with something distinctively _not _pancake on it. "Creating a masterpiece."

"Uh oh." Alexis groaned, realizing just what that meant. "This never ends well."

"If you do anything to my apartment, Castle," Kate warned. "They won't _ever _be identifying your body."

Shaking his head, unbothered, he shot her a grin. "You women are so touchy."

"Nah, mom's just grumpy because there's no coffee yet." Jonah offered, glancing at Kate knowingly before dashing into the hall.

"Au contraire," Rick grinned, gesturing to a cup on the edge of the counter that Kate had overlooked. She eagerly hopped up from her seat for it as Rick snatched it nimbly out of her reach. "No good morning kiss?" Rick teased, raising his voice to imitate a rather annoying valley girl. "Thank you _so much_, Rick, I don't know what I'd do without-"

Without warning, Kate's hand flew up to his face, applying steady pressure under his nose. He immediately relinquished the coffee to her as he whimpered in protest, even as her arm dropped back down to her side. "No need for violence, Ms. Beckett."

"Detective Beckett to you, Mr. Castle." she muttered from the rim of the cup. After a few minutes of standing at the counter, Kate took a long look at what was on her stove, Kate frowned. "Uh, Castle? What is that?"

He carefully ensured that it was fully cooked before smiling proudly, nimbly sliding the spatula underneath it and lifting it like a trophy. "My newest creation."

"_So _not good." Alexis mumbled again from the table, settling herself down in an empty chair.

Shooting her a glare, Rick shook his head. "I heard that, dear daughter, and I am stunned by your lack of faith."

Glaring playfully right back at him, she sighed in remembrance. "My faith in your breakfast creations was shattered after that shrimp pancake you made me last year."

"_Shrimp _pancake?"

Rick hummed in disappointment, ignoring Kate's almost comical surprise. "See, now I have to try them out on other people." Looking around quickly, he called out "Jonah, breakfast!"

"Oh no you don't!" Kate laughed. "You try that…whatever that is first. You're not using my kid as a guinea pig until I know it won't kill him."

"Fine." he grumbled, digging a fork into his 'masterpiece' and chomping on a bite eagerly. "See, delicious!"

Now standing at the far end of the table, almost as if she was afraid it was going to jump out at her, Alexis whispered to Kate. "Is that…chocolate?"

Kate eyed the chocolatey brown smear on his fingers and looked at Alexis with worry, who took another gratuitous step back as Rick called out for the youngest Beckett once more.

As if on cue, Jonah whirled around the glass divider, his hair damp from a quick shower as he nearly ran into Alexis. "Breakfast?" he asked excitedly.

"Come try this!" Rick beckoned, presenting his plate with a flourish.

Without missing a beat, Jonah grinned up at the two women, still edging away. "Only if mom and Lex try it first."

"Oh no." "No way." They both responded immediately, slowly slinking backwards, away from the kitchen. Kate narrowed her eyes at Rick. "Did you plan this?"

"No, I am not conspiring with your son, Detective." he grinned patiently. "Come on you guys! It's not poisonous."

"Says you." Kate mumbled, gently pulling on one of the damp locks of Jonah's hair.

"I heard that! Just for that, you get the first bite." Rick informed her, shifting from foot to foot like an overexcited child.

Jumping further away, Kate shook her head vigorously. "Oh, there's no way you're getting that in my mouth. Just…give me pancakes."

Moving the pancake plate to the other side of the counter, Rick firmly shook his head. "One bite." he insisted, stabbing a small piece onto a fork.

"What is it?" Jonah wrinkled his nose slightly, eyeing the fork with curiosity.

"I call it…a smorelet!" Rick said with a dramatic flair worthy of Martha Rodgers.

"A _smorelet_?" Alexis asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I took an omelet," he explained excitedly. "And I put one graham cracker and six marshmallows on top of a chocolate bar. And _voila_! Smorelet."

"That is kind of-"

"Brilliant?" Rick cut Kate off with a grin.

Making a face, Alexis shook her head. "I think she was going to say _disgusting_."

At Kate's agreeing nod, Rick began to pout. After a few solid moments of Rick's slightly crestfallen expression, Kate rolled her eyes heavenwards.

"So help me God, Castle, if that thing gives me food poisoning-"

Immediately brightening up, Rick rubbed his hands together. "It won't!" His forehead still creased, he stabbed the piece of smorelet again and frowned, disappointed. "It's probably not hot anymore."

"I don't care." Kate said quickly. "Just give me the damn bite."

"Ah ah ah!" Rick wagged a finger from his free hand at her, waving the fork at her enticingly.

"You're kidding, right?" she raised an eyebrow skillfully at him.

Alexis shook her head solemnly, not envying the woman in front of her. "Dad is dead serious about feeding his creations. Baby bird syndrome."

With a sigh, Kate eyed the smorelet one last time before opening her mouth. Before she knew it, Rick had slid the fork between her teeth and she closed her lips over it, maintaining a critical eye contact with the writer as she chewed slowly.

"It's-"

"Delicious?"

"Gross."

Unfazed, he turned to his daughter. "Your turn!"

With a very Beckett-like eye roll, Alexis opened her mouth and found herself chewing on her own bite of smorelet. After a moment, Alexis made a face as she licked a bit of chocolate from her lips and swallowed hurriedly. "I'm gonna have to agree with Kate on this one. Nice try, dad."

"I can't believe I just put an omelet s'more in my body." Kate mumbled, taking another long gulp of her drink.

"Your turn, Jonah." Alexis nudged him forward. He had been watching the reactions of the other two with interest, and looked warily at Rick.

"_One _bite?"

At Rick's eager nod, Jonah slowly opened his mouth expectantly. Rick popped the piece in and watched as he chewed as thoughtfully as his mother.

"It's-"

"Gross?" Alexis nodded knowingly.

"Awesome!"

Nearly choking on a sip of coffee, Kate turned her head to stare at him. "Who _are _you and where is my child?"

Ignoring her, he turned back to Rick as he swallowed. "Mmm, 'nother bite?"

"Of course!" Rick enthused, cutting another piece and offering it to the boy. Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, Rick smiled triumphantly. "Finally, the one with some _real _taste!"

"I'd hate to know where _his _taste buds are located." Alexis mumbled, accompanied with a humored snort from Kate.

"Mom, can you make this every Sunday?"

"Uh, no." Kate said calmly, still looking at Jonah with concern.

"Come on, _mom_." Rick teased, ignoring yet another glare that Kate sent his way with a smile.

"Alright, can I have the real food please?" Kate asked, extending an arm towards the pancakes Rick still held hostage.

Rick let out a put-upon sigh. "Fine."

Kate laughed as he moodily slid the plate towards her, and she in turn tossed three of them onto Alexis's empty plate.

Around another bite of the smorelet he was now sharing with Rick, Jonah spoke once more. "Are you guys coming back for dinner?"

"Baby bear, I think we'd better let them get going home." Kate told him gently, biting her lip at the slightly disappointed look on his face.

Rick saw the look too, and shot a quick glance at Kate before putting on a big smile. "Hey, I _made_ breakfast in this house. Shouldn't I get a free dinner now? I'm a man who hates to be cheated out of good food."

"Who says it's not going to be takeout?" Kate argued, looking briefly at Jonah and noting that his face had lightening considerably.

"Please." Rick snorted. "This is a kid with real taste. There's no way you'd get away with a takeout birthday dinner with him."

"Homemade manicotti. And he's right." Jonah bobbed his head. "You did try to get a taco truck for my last birthday dinner."

"That's because you just had to have it _fiesta _themed, remember?"

Ignoring her, he turned to Rick. "She would've gotten it if Uncle Javi's mom wouldn't have stopped her. And she makes the _best _tamales." Jonah confided, nearly jumping a foot as Kate's fingers dug into his sides. Twirling his laughing form behind her, she realized belatedly that she had maneuvered herself almost directly into Rick's chest.

After a beat, and the sound of the other two occupants of the kitchen heading towards the living room, she let out a slightly uncomfortable laugh. "Ignore the foolhardy child."

"I dunno, Beckett." he teased. "I think our children have more sense than the both of us."

"Speak for yourself." Kate teased back, her shorter, barefoot stature forcing her to look up to see his eyes. When he laughed, his warm breath brushed her cheek as he shifted slightly to plant one of his hands on the counter, effectively trapping her.

She stayed frozen for a moment, but forced herself to relax as she leaned into the counter to look up at him.

"Sleep well?"

Kate smiled cheekily. "You're the one on the air mattress in my motor mouth son's bedroom."

Rick lifted his shoulders noncommittally. "He's a cool kid. I didn't know he had the entire Frank Miller collection. Kept me occupied."

Rolling her eyes, she leaned slightly into one of his arms. "Ugh. I put way too many hours into scouring comic book stores for that collection. Doesn't surprise me that you're as fascinated as he is. Perpetual nine year old."

"I'm telling you." Rick insisted, grinning. "He's got great taste."

"That would also be implying that you, Castle, have great taste."

He dipped his head down to be cheek-to-cheek with her, unable to resist. "Oh, I can assure you, Detective, that I have excellent taste. You can try it any time."

XxXxXxXxX

After boasting a fully belly and a dishwashing turning into a nearly full-blown waterfight, Kate was officially ready to go back to bed. Rick and Alexis were still loitering around, Rick in an intense X-Men conversation with Jonah and Alexis caught up in fascination with the books and pictures lining the shelves of the Beckett living room.

As soon as they had finished the breakfast dishes and dried the kitchen, Kate started making the noodles and brought out a few jars of already-made sauce. _"None of that Ragu shit in this house. My grandmother would roll over in her grave._" Kate had grinned, rolling her eyes as Jonah popped an extra marshmallow in his mouth with a smirk.

"I'm going to jump in the shower for a sec, can you keep an eye on the sauce?" Kate asked, more to Jonah than to Rick.

Jonah nodded in response, eyeing the sauce-covered spoon hungrily.

"No tasting!" Kate ordered. "I don't need your _smorelet _germs in my sauce."

"Come _on_, mom." Jonah protested, pouting at the prospect of having to wait until dinner.

"That's a negatory, good buddy."

Jonah made a face as she turned the corner and focused back on his favorite comic, spread carefully on the table. "I don't know how you still live with _your _mom." he whispered to Rick, who in turn let out a loud laugh.

"Don't worry, kid. I have a feeling that your mom would be cooler to live with than mine." Jonah studied him skeptically, but with a strange glint in his eyes.

After several minutes, he asked Jonah curiously, "So, who all is coming tonight?"

"Um," Jonah bit his lip thoughtfully. "You guys, all the guys from the precinct, Aunt Lanie, her sister and kids, my Aunt Maddie, my grandpa, and I think a few more." he shrugged. "We've gotta put another table in the living room somewhere 'cause everyone won't fit." Jonah shrugged and turned back to the comic, unaware of the idea taking form in the older man's head.

XxXxXxXxX

Rick paced nervously in front of the bathroom door, waiting for the woman on the other side to make an appearance. The water had shut off nearly a minute ago, and he forced himself to lean patiently against the wall.

The door opened and a rush of heat preceded her, and Rick braced himself for her reaction upon seeing him.

"Castle!" Kate jumped in surprise, her hands clutching her towel around her. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Uh," Rick began nervously, trying not to stare at very almost-naked woman in front of him, reminding himself that the woman's son had probably stationed himself just outside the door in curiosity. "Waiting for you?"

"Obviously." Kate huffed. "Move." The detective pushed him out of her way, shaking her hair out as she dug into one of her drawers before pausing. "Better yet," She began pushing him once again, but instead of into the hallway like he expected, he was shoved into her dark closet. "Snoop and you're dead, Castle!"

"Fat chance without light." he muttered, letting himself rest against the wall. On the other side of her door, Rick heard the sounds of the towel hitting the floor and felt his heartbeat quicken. Knowing that Kate was probably completely naked on the other side of the door was more than a little tempting. He let his head rest against the door and inhaled slowly, realizing that the closet smelled like her, perfume-less and fresh.

A few moments later, Kate yanked the door back open and let him out. Now, the towel was wrapped around her hair and she was clothed in a pair of worn jeans and a loose black and white striped boat neck. "Why are you skulking around my bathroom door?" she asked flatly, her eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Uh," He stuttered nervously. Even barefoot and fresh out of the shower, Kate Beckett was a force to be reckoned with.

"Say 'uh' one more time, I dare you." Her eyebrows raised dangerously, she had rarely looked more intimidating. He idly pitied some of the innocent people she had interrogated in her time. That look nearly made him debate confessing to a crime he didn't even commit.

Rick gulped. "Well, u-" he stopped himself. "I have a proposition for you." Off of Kate's unimpressed look, he hurriedly continued. "I was talking to Jonah, about dinner tonight."

"Okay." she said slowly. "And this constitutes your creeping how?"

"I'm getting there!" Rick protested. "So, there's more than a few people coming here tonight, correct?" At Kate's nod, he continued. "And, well, I was thinking..."

"Yes?"

Rick let out a breath and finished his thought in a rush. "I just, well, if it's not too much trouble, you could move it to the loft."

Kate's eyes widened almost comically. "Castle-"

"No offense, because your apartment is _great_, but my kitchen is bigger. And my dining room, it could probably seat the entire homicide department and then some."

With a sigh, Kate pressed the heel of her palm against the side of her forehead. "Castle, I couldn't ask you to-"

"You're not asking me." Rick grinned. She hadn't said no. "I'm offering."

"I-"

Rick chuckled lightly. "Just say yes, detective."

Kate gave him an appraising look, taking in the look of sincerity in his eyes and his hopeful expression. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door crack open slightly and a sliver of a familiar face plant itself in the opening. She idly wondered if it was the unspoken promise of a laser tag game that was motivating her son, or just the idea of getting to hang out at the Castle loft. Realizing that Rick was still staring at her intently, Kate sighed and shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. "Yes?"

"Good." Rick's hopeful grin widened as he now spoke without hesitation. "Now, Alexis and I are going to go home and clean ourselves up, and you are going to inform everyone of the location change and finish your brilliant cooking, and _then _you're going to bring everything over to the loft where you will do exactly whatever you had planned to do here. Just, with more room to breathe." When Kate opened her mouth, brow furrowed, he gently tapped a finger on her lips. "Don't argue." he teased. "We'd hate to have the birthday boy getting trapped in a labyrinth of folding chairs."

Shaking her head with an amused, crooked smile, Kate finally spoke. "You're-"

"Insufferable?" Rick offered easily.

She tilted her head at him. "I was going to go with incredibly good-looking, but insufferable works too."

Rick let out a full-bellied laugh, tucking an escaped strand of wet hair behind her ear. "That, my dear detective, is something I can live with."

XxXxXxXxX


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Oy. This one has been my worst enemy. I hope you like it more than I do!**

XxXxXxXxX

"So let me get this straight." Lanie grinned wolfishly, even though Kate could obviously not see her. "You're letting writer boy hook you up for your kid's party."

"Lanie, he's not _hooking me up_. He just offered, and I accepted."

"See, and that's _exactly _the part that I'm so fascinated by." _God, sometimes you're so blind. _

"How's that?" Kate asked indignantly. She wasn't _that _stubborn.

"Well, I happen to remember a very bullheaded, cranky, sick woman with an equally cranky and sick 2 year old refusing to let anyone so much as make chicken soup."

"Hey," Kate defended. Well, maybe she _was_ that stubborn. "It was a cold, not cholera."

"Mmhmm." Lanie hummed, her lips starting to ache from grinning but unable to resist digging for more. "So what'd he do?

"Oh, um." Kate hedged. "Well, he kind of sniped me as I was getting out of the shower."

"Really?" Lanie perked up hopefully. "And he...smooched you into it?

"No! No, there was absolutely _no _smooching." Kate tried to pretend that there wasn't some little, infinitesimal part of her that was lamenting over that fact, and instead focused herself on picking at a nail.

Lanie sighed in dismay. "Girl, if you don't get up on that soon, I'm _going _to have to smack you. For real."

"Lanie." Kate sighed. "Castle and I are friends. Like me and Esposito."

"Oh, no, honey." Lanie laughed. "You're Esposito's _sister_."

Kate huffed. "And, do tell, what I am to Castle?"

Lanie grinned. "Honey, if I have to tell you, you need to start opening up those pretty eyes of yours more."

XxXxXxXxX

It had been surprisingly easy to track everyone down, despite Ryan and Esposito's attempts to frustrate the living hell out of her. They had been tracking down the main and only suspect on a rather open-and-shut case, which had enabled Kate to take her days off that weekend, but found it a good sport to taunt her with their retribution plans.

Despite their end being on speakerphone, she could clearly hear Ryan as he ribbed her gleefully. "I say we take a week off during the holiday season. Christmas. That ought to be fair."

"Come on. It's a pop and drop. I'm pretty sure my _kid _could track down this perp."

"Still," Ryan said pensively, wistfully. "My uncle invited me to his lake this weekend. I could be knee-deep in sparkling water, shooting the breeze with my loved ones."

"Cut the crap, Ryan." Kate rolled her eyes. "You can't stand fishing. You jump around too much. Scares the fish away."

"That may be true," Esposito challenged, getting louder as he spoke closer to the phone. "But do you know how many Sunday dinners I've missed to work?"

Kate rolled her eyes. Her boys needed to realize that she knew them better than they thought. "Your family doesn't even _do _Sunday dinners."

"But we _could_. I'm never home to encourage them."

With another eye roll, she had ordered the boys to actually do their jobs and warned them of the consequences of lateness before hanging up.

The worst call had been her father, however, whose smile she could practically hear through the phone as he accepted the new arrangements without question.

"So it's getting serious with this Castle guy."

"Dad," Kate sighed. "There's nothing to be serious about."

"Really?" Jim said skeptically. "Because it sounds like-"

"It sounds like two friends who help each other out." Kate said firmly, but she could still hear that smile in his voice.

"If that's what they're calling it these days…" Jim trailed off, leaving a silence that he knew would irritate his daughter to no end.

"Don't patronize me."

"Hey, to be fair, I kind of _am _your patron."

Kate groaned. "Ugh. Dad, I don't have time for this."

"What is _this_, anyways?"

Taking a deep breath, Kate fought to hold onto her last shreds of maturity. Throwing a temper tantrum like she was six years old and daddy refused to let her ride her new bike, even though she'd just broken her wrist on it was definitely not mature. Ignoring him wasn't either, but it was probably all she could hope for as she forced herself to speak calmly. "I'll see you soon, dad."

Her father let out a deep laugh, which only served to aid her moodiness and he bid her goodbye, his smile still in his voice.

XxXxXxXxX

While Kate put the finishing touches on the manicotti, Jonah was busy coaxing open each sealed card that he'd received in the mail over the last few days. She was amused by the studious way he read each card and folded them neatly back together, despite his opposition to the task.

"I still don't understand why I have to open them now." he whined, sucking on a small paper cut on his finger, too small to even bleed.

"Because if we do it _later_," Kate shook her head knowingly. "There won't _be _a later."

"Not true." he protested with a grin. "Not when there's money."

"Remember last year, the big case? I was barely here in time to see you to bed and gone right after you woke up. We didn't open cards until you were out of school." Watching his fingers slide in the seal of yet another card, she raised an eyebrow. "Who's that one from?"

Jonah hummed as he flipped the shell pink envelope over and read the return label. "Great Aunt Elaine. She still thinks I'm a girl. It has glitter on it."

Kate laughed out loud as she began scrubbing at the dirty dishes. She should have known that naming him so similarly to her mother would arise confusion with the older woman, who had too many great and great-great nieces and nephews to keep track of. "No…she's just…old?"

Jonah snorted, despite the grin on his face as he read the woman's kind, yet rather meaningless words.

"_Such a beautiful child_." Jonah mimicked, absently scratching his jaw as his hand left a trail of silver glitter in its wake.

"I do make some pretty good looking babies." Kate agreed, remembering her mother's Aunt Elaine as a woman who constantly cooed over her baby curls and hazel-green eyes. Jonah, the near carbon-copy of a young Kate, would have been just as doted on if she were still nearby.

Jonah made a face. "Well, firstly, I'm you're _only _baby. And secondly, _ew_."

Holding a soapy spoon up in warning, Kate shot him a smirk. "Hey I can dig out your birth video. I'm sure Rick and Alexis would _love _to see-" She was cut off by his protesting shout, and she hid her smile as she rinsed the last of the dishes.

Finishing and sealing the three trays of manicotti, she stacked them neatly together. "Ready to go?"

Kate wiped the glitter from his hair and chin, making the air around them sparkle for a brief moment before they stepped into the hallway. She absently reached down to scratch the rather offended creature lurking outside her neighbor's door, balancing the trays with ease.

Jonah locked the door behind himself, slinging the bag full of extra ingredients over his shoulder.

"To the Castle!" he cheered, earning himself an eye roll and a well placed hip-bump, sending him into a fit of laughter as he rebounded off the wall.

XxXxXxXxX

"Oh, hello, dears!" Martha greeted as the door was opened with a flourish, managing to even look elegant in her bathrobe. "Richard and Alexis have been absolutely mad all afternoon."

"Mad?" Jonah worried nervously, twisting his free hand into his pocket.

"Oh, kiddo," Martha laid a hand on Jonah's shoulder with a comforting smile. "I simply meant, mad with wanting everything to be absolutely _perfect_. I don't think this loft has been so clean since we thought Alexis was allergic to dust."

"Hi!" the aforementioned teenager appeared from around the corner. Noticing the large trays Kate held, Alexis reached out for the top two. "I'll take these. Gram?"

"Oh, yes." Martha grabbed the last tray from Kate, ushering them both inside with a wave.

Slightly in shock, Kate realized that the loft had been transformed. Balloons and streamers decorated the large open space,

"_Wow_." Jonah whispered.

"Wow is right." She made a mental note to talk to Rick about the over exuberant use of helium and double-sided tape.

"Hey!" Rick bounded from down the hall, a large grin on his face that wiped away any chastising thoughts in Kate's head. Casually slipping a finger into one of her belt loops, he pulled the detective forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. One of her arms instinctively reached up to grab one of his arms in support as he threw her off balance, and she could practically feel his grin in her hair.

Releasing her slowly, he turned and ruffled Jonah's hair, who shook his head in protest.

"I figured I could make the rest of the stuff here." She explained, as he slid the bag off of Jonah's shoulder and onto his.

"Of course! Mi cocina es su cocina." Rick ushered her behind the island counter, setting the bag on top. "Whatever you made smells delicious."

Kate shrugged. "I come from a long line of fabulous cooks. It's in the blood."

"Okay." Rick clasped his hands. "That's it. We're keeping you."

Before she could react, he easily threw Jonah over his shoulder and bounced down the hallway, leaving Kate with her whirling thoughts.

XxXxXxXxX

As Kate finished up the side dishes, a pair of two short, sharp knocks sounded. Rick had since returned with Jonah, both of them intensely focused on a game of scrabble as Kate taught Alexis how to make a zucchini sauté.

As Rick got up to answer the door, both Becketts glanced at each other from across the room with matching grins.

Noticing their looks, Rick glanced backwards suspiciously. "What? Do I have a 'kick me' sign on my back or something?"

"Or something!" Jonah answered, not even taking his eyes from the board as he scrutinized his possible choices.

Just as he reached for the handle, Kate's teasing voice carried to him. "Make sure you give my dad a good first impression."

His face dropping slightly, Rick's hand jumped slightly away from the handle. Realizing that the man on the other side could probably hear them taunting him, he firmly grasped and pulled the door open. It revealed a slightly graying man, with laughter in his eyes and a box tucked under his arm. "Mr. Castle." Jim smiled in amusement, watching as the other man nearly tripped over his own feet as he stepped backwards.

"Uh…Mr. Beckett? Come in."

Now leaning casually against the counter, Kate stifled a laugh.

"Grandpa!" Jonah abandoned the game and sped over to his side, throwing his arms around the Beckett patriarch.

Grinning widely, Jim Beckett bent over slightly to wrap his arms around his grandson. "Hey, sport. Ten, already?"

"You're telling me." Kate mumbled as her father turned back towards Rick.

Jim took notice of Alexis now sitting perched on the couch and gave a friendly introduction, recognizing her from one of the pictures Kate had sent of Jonah at the fair.

"Hi, I'm Alexis." The redhead smiled shyly, turning slightly pink when Jim pulled her into a warm hug.

"I've heard a lot about you." Alexis flushed even more as her eyes met Kate's, and she busied herself by heading into the kitchen to load the dishwasher.

"Nice place you've got here, Mr. Castle." Jim said casually, scanning the loft as he watched Alexis twirl Jonah alongside her, his socked feet sliding against the floor. He then caught sight of Kate, leaning watchfully at the counter and beamed. "Katie."

"Hi, dad." Kate smiled warmly and walked into his arms. Jim grasped tightly onto his only child before releasing her, silently taking in her carefree smile and the warmth in her eyes that remind him so much of his wife. When her father turned back towards Rick,she quietly excused herself to help Alexis with loading and sent a wink towards the writer.

"Katie's told me a lot about you, too." Jim grinned mysteriously, not missing a beat of their behavior towards each other.

Rick didn't miss the slight flushing of Kate's cheeks as she overheard her father, or the way she met his eyes with an mischievous grin.

"All good things I hope." Rick said nervously, rubbing his hands together while thinking of things he'd rather be facing right now. _A root canal. A pack of starving cheetahs. Gina and Paula when I quit writing._

Jim Beckett simply smiled, patting Rick on the shoulder as he moved to his daughter's side.

XxXxXxXxX

Arriving next was Ryan and Esposito, armed with even more balloons and the cake that had been entrusted to them. Jonah immediately zeroed in on the dessert, sliding skillfully over the wood floors to plant himself firmly in front of Esposito.

Anticipating the question even before his mouth was open. Esposito shook his head. "Nope, not until dessert time, buddy." Esposito teased him, carefully holding the cake above his head and skirting past the eager child and into the dining room. "Hey Rick, got a place where I can hide this?"

"But I helped _make_ it. Uncle Kev?" Jonah protested.

"Nope." Ryan grinned, districting him with several large packages. "And you can't open these until dessert time either."

Jonah groaned, carrying the boxes to the growing pile next to one of the couches.

Moments after the next small wave arrived, consisting of Maddie Queller, Ignazio Giordano, and Roy and Evelyn Montgomery. Martha returned shortly after, now fully dressed and theatrical as ever. She was immediately charmed by Ignazio, his weathered face crinkling with humor at her light nature.

The first arrivals soon settled around the massive dining table. The captain and his wife explained that their girls were both at end-of-the-year school functions but sent their regards, and Maddie enthused to Kate about a new potential boyfriend she'd met a few days prior. Jonah entertained them all with a game of MadLibs, and the smell of food enticed them all.

"Mom sends her love, and said to be on the lookout for a delivery in the next few days." Esposito murmured, leaning over to Kate as she shook her head in defeat. There was no way her kid was going to come out of this _not _spoiled.

Maxie, windblown and looking rather exhausted, appeared next. "Please reminded me why I wanted an internship so badly. I feel like I'm drowning. And being beaten to death as I sink."

Kate laughed sympathetically, wrapping her son's former babysitter in a hug before releasing her to Alexis, who nearly sighed in relief. "You're not going to _believe _my scores on the last chem test."

Then, Lanie and her sister arrived and Jonah dragged Kohen down the hall, presumably to find Alexis and show off the Castle's impressive arsenal of entertainment. Kendra easily passed her reaching toddler to Kate, who led the Parrish women into the dining room.

"Who is this?" Rick asked, bending over slightly to catch the little girl's eye. Camdyn buried her head into Kate shoulder shyly, but was unable to hold in her tiny giggles as Rick poked her side.

"Lanie's sister, Kendra." Kate gestured towards the woman who was unfamiliar to him. "And this is her daughter, Camdyn. Her son, Kohen, just disappeared somewhere with mine."

Rick nodded, committing the names to memory. "It's nice to meet you."

Kendra, who looked eerily like her younger sister as she sized Rick up, glanced briefly at Kate before smiling. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Castle."

"Rick, please." he insisted. "I'd say Mr. Castle was my father, but it really just makes me feel old."

Overhearing her son as she passed by, Martha shook her head teasingly. "It's the grays that make you feel old, darling."

"Hey!" The noise Rick made was almost girlish as he ran a hand through his dark hair. "No grays."

"Don't worry," Captain Montgomery razzed. "We old folks call it _distinguished _hair."

XxXxXxXxX

"Alright guys, dinner!" Kate bellowed down the Castles' hallway, and it only took seconds for the two boys to materialize at the end of it, accompanied slowly by Alexis and Maxie.

The meal went by fairly uneventful. Rick egged the two younger boys on as they each tried to out-garlic each other on the bread.

"You are so drinking mouthwash tonight." Kate looked thoroughly amused, even as she tried to put on her stern face.

Each parent tried valiantly to embarrass their child with memories, ranging from Rick's penchant for stage makeup, Alexis's one and only misfortunate ballet recital, Kate's frequent name changes, ranging from Smurfette to Mulan to Bucket, Jonah's cape-wearing phase, and even Kohen's infatuation with the Spice Girls and Lanie's entertaining mispronunciations. Co-workers also ganged up on each other, with Esposito kindly reminding Ryan of his vomit-heavy first week on the job, Kate reminding Esposito of an interrogation with a stripper gone hilariously wrong, and both Esposito and Ryan reminding Kate of an undercover case that piqued Rick's interest.

"_Russian?_"

Shooting a glare at two very smug detectives and ignoring the rather amused expression that danced on her father's face, she desperately hedged.

"It was so cool." Jonah enthused.

"Jonah Mac."

Jonah skillfully ignored her as he turned to the uninformed occupants at the table. "Mom totally outsmarted these guys. They couldn't even tell that her accent was _fake_."

"Can we just, not, talk about work?" Kate begged, jump starting the boys into an intense sports debate, while the women at the table looked on in vague amusement. Camdyn wiggled her way off of Kendra's lap to crawl over both Kate's and Kohen's. Finally stopping on Jonah's, he took advantage of Camdyn's willingness to contently eat anything and quickly disposed of several mushrooms.

Rick failed to hide a snort as he watched, drawing Kate's attention at the same time. "_9 year olds._" Kate mouthed silently at him, as she watched Jonah lean forward to give Rick a high-five from across the table. They both merely smiled at her, giving her the distinct impression that she was very much in trouble as she could barely find it in her to roll her eyes,

XxXxXxXxX

"Presents!"

Everyone had slowly migrated into the spacious living area, strategically seating Jonah on a large armchair adjacent to the moderately sized pile.

"Rick and Lex's first." Jonah insisted, the anticipation over the last day coming to a peak.

"Well. Technically, ours is a two-parter." Rick began slyly.

Kate bit her lip. "Castle."

"It was my idea! Promise." Alexis smiled winningly, falling on the proverbial sword for her father. Before Kate could say anything else, she glanced back pointedly towards Rick's study. "Did you, uh, you notice that extra laser tag getup back there?"

"No." Jonah shook his head. He and Kohen had only been back there briefly, instead choosing to take turns being slid down the hallway upstairs by the older girls.

Rick and Alexis glanced at each other briefly before merely smiling at Jonah. Slowly, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"_No_." he gasped in disbelief. His _own _laser tag set?

"Yes." Rick nodded, and a brief glance at Kate told him that she was just as stunned.

"Seriously?"

"Well, it'll stay here," Rick explained, more for Kate's benefit than Jonah's. "But it's for your use only. Has your name on it and everything. We figured we could use an extra set or two anyways, and who knows, maybe your mom would like to join in one day."

"And the second part?" Kate gave up trying to make sense of it all, and just watched in awe at the two people who had essentially crash-landed and taken up a comfortable residence in their lives. Giving her son laser tag sets and all the affection in the world.

"Later." he promised.

Jonah nodded acceptingly, still too in awe about the laser tag to be bothered.

"Man, I kind of feel upstaged." Jim grinned good-naturedly, gently tossing Jonah a box that was carefully wrapped in the newspaper comics. As soon as Jonah pulled out the contents, he immediately attracted the attention of nearly all of the males.

"Whoa."

"Are you serious right now?" Esposito was nearly as giddy as Jonah himself, even as he still reeled from the previous gift.

"Is that _Zap_?" Rick peered at a comic with interest, his eyes wide.

Ryan held up one comic in particular in reverence. "Dude. This is the first appearance of The Riddler."

"_Detective Comics_. How fitting." Kendra snarked, catching sight of one of the titles.

Rick immediately came to its defense. "Whoa whoa whoa. That is a _classic_. You don't see these every day."

Kate, well aware of the value of the collection that lay in front of her, was stunned. "Dad. How did you-"

Jim smiled mysteriously, before whispering lowly into her ear. "You'd be surprised at the things you could find in your great-grandparent's attic. One just has to know where to look."

Ah, her hoarding great-grandparents. Their old house now sat empty for the majority of the year, only touched when someone made the lengthy drive upstate.

"I think you've just won the_ best grandparent ever_ award." Kate whispered, as Jonah and the other males practically drooled over the pages.

Jim chuckled. "It's not like I have much competition, Katie."

"Now _I_ feel really upstaged." Ryan shook his head, grinning at the boy's near-unwillingness to touch the pages.

"God, now he's going to have unreasonable expectations for all birthdays after this." Kate mumbled. "I'm going to have to buy him a house by the time he's sixteen."

After most of the shock and awe had worn off, the other gifts began to be opened. Kohen had proudly handed over a bag containing several new action figures and video games, earning the other boy a few high-fives and excited plans to play together.

With Ignazio, only a small piece of paper. "For both of you." he smiled warmly.

In a faded, familiar scrawl, words she hadn't seen since late childhood.

Kate nearly stopped breathing. "Zio."

Ignazio smiled. "Leni left me with her copies, but they're all up in my head." He gestured to the leather-bound book. "All in here, for you both."

Kate wrapped him in a crushing hug, pulling Jonah in as well.

"Does this mean we can make cherry pie tomorrow?" Jonah questioned, his voice muffled in Ignazio's shirt.

Kate glanced at him suspiciously. "This is supposed to be _your _birthday."

Jonah shrugged innocently. "Trust me, mom. _Totally _selfish intentions."

From Maxie, Jonah got a sleek new pair of skates. Before Jonah could even ask, she raised her hands in surrender. "They're 100% hockey mom approved. Your mom's cell phone bill agrees."

And from the boys, a certificate to use for a wall-climbing class at the local recreational center and from the Montgomery's, a fully-supplied terrarium, complete with a card to send in for tadpoles.

From Lanie, a carefully crafted scrapbook, containing pictures all the way from early in Kate's pregnancy to the present, with a few of Kate's own baby pictures included for comparison. Jonah poured through several laminated pages with an eager grin, taking in many of the pictures he'd never seen before.

"My mother had so many pictures of you on her old camera I almost feel jealous." Lanie teased, enjoying the flabbergasted look on Kate's face as she saw pictures she didn't even know existed. One set in particular, of a bare-bellied Kate laughing with Lanie on a porch swing, paired with one obviously taken several months later in almost the exact same spot, with a tiny newborn in her arms.

"Was I really that little?"

"Oh boy." Kate laughed. "Compared to my humongous belly, you were _teacup_ sized."

Jim smiled wistfully at memories he wasn't sober enough to take part in, and Rick simply smiled at the images of a slightly younger Kate and the toddler wrapped around her.

Tearing himself away from the album, Jonah unwrapped the remaining few presents with as much gusto as he did the first, and took turns in giving excited hugs and thank yous to everyone.

Nearly two hours later, after the cake had been cut and the guests had been thoroughly thanked, Kate flopped unceremoniously onto the couch. She stretched her arms out to both sides and let her head roll back. "Ugh. What a day."

Rick chucked and sat himself next to her, startling slightly when she unconsciously shifted to lean against his arm. He met her eyes and was stunned by the guarded emotions shining in them.

"Thank you, Rick."

"For what?"

"For…this." Kate said, gesturing around herself. "For putting up with my issues when you don't have to. For being so wonderful even though you have no obligations to me. Or Jonah."

Rick regarded her before softly speaking. "It doesn't have to be that way, you know."

But Kate was unwilling to deal with that, and all of the messy feelings that accompanied it. She felt herself blushing under his gaze.

Jonah and his radar detector for awkwardness quickly kicked in as he and Alexis came giggling down the hall.

"Wanna see our handshake?" Alexis asked with a giggle, which quickly launched into a complicated mix of uncoordinated arms and legs.

After several more minutes of handshaking and teasing, the four of them settled down to watch a movie. Alexis plopped herself down next to Kate, while Jonah arranged some pillows on the floor to lay in front of the couch.

Alexis failed to stifle many of her yawns, however, and was passed out on Kate's shoulder before the real action even began. Jonah, on the other hand, tried valiantly to keep his eyes open. He too lost the battle, right before the climax of the movie and was softly snoring at their feet.

Glancing over at Kate and seeing the nostalgic expression on her face as the cars zoomed around the streets of Rio, he _had_ to ask. "You ever race?"

Kate looked at him in surprise before slowly answering. "A few times. When I was working in Vice. Never again."

"Why?" Rick asked curiously, making sure to keep his voice low enough to not wake either of the children.

Kate shrugged. "It's like a hooker. Fun for the night, but in a long term situation? Hassle."

Rick raised his eyebrows at her. "I didn't know you were so well-versed in hookers."

"Shut up, Castle!" Kate laughed. Of course that would be the only part he cared about. He didn't need to know about the motorcycle that lay tucked away in a garage, or that she'd been required to dress like one on multiple occasions, either. Some things were best left a mystery.

XxXxXxXxX

The movie had long since faded from the screen, yet they still hadn't moved. Rick had situated himself in the corner, and Kate was leaning fully against him, too completely exhausted to care. Alexis had shifted to having her head on the arm opposite of them, with her feet barely brushing Kate's lap. Jonah was still face down on the floor, completely and utterly passed out.

"You should stay." Before she could pull back, he let his hand rest on her stomach. "No monkey business. Scout's honor."

She relaxed back into him, chuckling. "Somehow I doubt that they ever let you in scouts."

"Oh, they did." Rick said proudly. "For a year. But I set one too many sets of eyebrows on fire during campouts."

"Rick!"

"I'm kidding." he laughed, letting his head fall forward into the crook of her neck.

After a moment of silence, she shifted slightly against him. "So what's the second part of his present?" Kate asked softly, bringing a hand up to gently brush the ends of his hair. "You didn't buy him a car or anything, did you?"

When Rick was silent, she pulled back warily. "My ten year old is _not _driving a better car than me."

Rick laughed softly, pulled her back to him briefly before reaching into his back pocket and producing an envelope. His eyes nervously met Kate's, begging her to not be furious with him. "I figured I'd just give it to you. In case you didn't want to accept, less disappointment."

"If there are car keys in here…" Kate continued to tease him, unnerved by the uncertainty in his usually confident eyes.

Confused, she slid her index finger inside and opened the envelope, pulling out a single sheet of paper. "Rick." her eyes shot up to meet his.

"You don't have to." Rick said softly. "I just thought-"

Without thinking, Kate twisted around and threw her arms around Rick, launching herself at him heedlessly. His arms immediately came up to steady her as they nearly toppled over. Somewhere in the middle, their lips bumped gently, but Kate pulled away before either of them could fully register what had happened.

"How did you know?" she whispered, feeling as if her heart was about to beat from her chest.

Rick merely grinned, feeling himself slowly relax as her expression remained light.

As if on cue, Jonah stirred slightly. "What is it?" Jonah asked groggily, sitting up on the floor. Realizing that the mysterious envelope had indeed been opened, his eyes immediately opened wider. "I wanna see!"

"Easy, you cannibal!" Kate whispered, reluctantly moving away from Rick on the couch to make room for Jonah as she pulled him up to sit between her legs.

"What is it?" he repeated, his voice soft and curious, so much like the small child he had been only years before.

Kate showed him the slightly crumpled sheet of paper, and he turned his sleepy, bright gaze from his mother to the man responsible.

XxXxXxXxX


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I suck at writing while on vacation, but now that I'm back home I'll hopefully suck less. So I kind of borrowed this scenario from my big brother, who did this about ten years ago with Make A Wish. It was basically the coolest thing ever, so I probably won't do it justice but, you know, suspend disbelief for a few I guess. I'm also kind of leaving certain things ambiguous, but I might change that later. Basically, I'm a little nervous about this one but I hope everyone likes it.**

XxXxXxXxX

Pressing his fingers against the cool glass, Jonah Beckett turned a serious eye upon his mother, who was sitting slightly behind him on the bench. "I think Rick is a psychic."

Unable to contain her laugh, Kate snorted into her coffee. That was a new one. "I think you're a nut."

"No, really." Jonah insisted. "First, he signed a book for you _years _ago and then the next time you see him is 'cause someone's copycatting killing people like that same book. Second, he knew you forgot to go shopping _again _and brought us sandwich stuff last week. And then, he just _knows_-"

"First, spend more time doing homework than cooking up crazy ideas." Kate frowned, narrowing her eyes at the back of her son's head. Another "Rick trait" Jonah seemed to have picked up on. Jonah shot a grin back at her.

"Come on mom. You know its kind of spooky."

Kate shrugged. Richard Castle had been a whirlwind into their lives, a force to be reckoned with as he had taken up residence in their lives and in their minds. Even when she wasn't at work, being pestered by him, he managed to sneak his way into her subconscious. Whether it was in the robot toy she knew he'd love as she shopped for Jonah's birthday, or in the long pause between speech where she just knew he'd have a quip for, he was there. He followed her home, as well. In her son's voice as he mimicked a funny conversation between Rick and Martha he'd heard, and in his book report as he cited him as a source and received a curious note home for. Richard Castle was everywhere. And, to Kate's dismay, she wasn't as bothered as she projected herself to be.

So as she watched the quite impressive hockey team do on the ice , she re-laced Jonah's skates with bright blue and orange laces, waiting for the man in question to appear. The boy in front of her had been absolutely buzzing all week, nearly unable to sleep at night and bouncing off the walls every waking hour, interrogating her constantly about how she thought he'd do.

"_These guys are pros. Like, super serious. Do you think they'll think I suck?" _

"_Hey, you play half as good as you do at your games, and you'll knock their socks off." Sure, he was just on a junior league, but if one thing was for certain, the ten year old had a knack for the ice. Even she had her doubts when she signed him up for his first lesson when he was only four. But once she got him on the ice, she realized, it was unlikely of her to ever get him off. So even now, six years later, she was still surprised at the ease and skill he routinely displayed, and even a bit proud to admit that she was a "hockey mom". Snack-making and carpooling and all. Even the boys had joined in, wearing super-sized versions of Jonah's team's jersey on game days and making sure that they were the loudest and most embarrassing spectators as they cheered him on. _

_Jonah sighed. "You're my mom. You kinda have to say that."_

"_No." Kate frowned. "If you sucked, I'd probably tell you that you sucked. We couldn't have you getting a big head over nothing, now could we?"_

"_Okay, fine." Jonah tried not to laugh. His mother _was _brutally honest at times, and while she may have accepted poorly-made pencil holders and glittery cards in stride, he truly did think that she'd never set him up for embarrassment. So humor it was. "But those guys are huge."_

"_And I doubt any of them will be actually body checking you, J-Mac. They want to instruct you, not send you through the Plexiglas."_

"_Thanks, mom." he rolled his eyes. "Now I feel so much better."_

"Hey, guys!" On cue, as always, Rick hopped down the stairs towards where they were seated.

"Hey!" Jonah exclaimed, finally tearing himself away from the ice and pivoting into the bulky man, nearly toppling himself over with his force as he wrapped his arms around him.

Rick steadied him easily, flexing his fingers over the pads covering his small shoulders. "Careful, buddy!"

Jonah fist-bumped him with a grin and returned to pressing the pads of his fingers against the glass, staring almost hungrily at the other side.

"He is _totally _zoned out." Rick observed in amusement.

"Yeah," Kate chucked. "Its his hockey mode. An earthquake wouldn't shake this kid out of it."

They exchanged grins, holding each others eyes for a few moments too long before they broke, turning their attention back to the entranced boy. He settled down on the bench next to her as she finished re-lacing, falling in a comfortable silence.

"Castle, I can't even begin-" Kate began, but she was silenced by his knuckles placed gently across her lips.

"Trust me, that look on his face when he leaves? That'll be all the thanks that I need."

Kate shook her head. "No, really-"

"Beckett." Rick said firmly. "

Finally, acquiescing, she bit her lip. "Where's Alexis?" She didn't see the redhead anywhere, and hadn't heard from her the entire day. The teenager had planned on being there as well, but Kate ventured to guess that her attention was required elsewhere.

"With Paige." Rick shrugged. "Some emergency best friend thing. I heard a bunch of crying from over the phone and got out of there before Alexis started cursing my gender."

Kate laughed. "How I don't miss those stupid high school relationships."

A man approached them with a polite smile, holding a clipboard and looking rather harried. "5 minutes, and he can go out."

Jonah snapped out of his reverie and whirled. "Mom! Skates!"

"Right here, bud." Kate lifted them up as proof. It had been a last minute decision to bring the old skates instead of his new ones. Jonah complained that his old ones were too small now, but Kate secretly thought that the idea of the entire team seeing his worn skates was daunting for him. So they had compromised with new laces to replace his old ones, and left the new ones to be broken in later. Her son was as bullheaded and fearless as she was, but sometimes she was brutally reminded that he was still just a kid, embarrassed by his ratty skates and his mom singing power ballads in the shower when his friends were over.

Jonah settled anxiously next to her, shaking slightly as he wriggled his toes down into them and adjusted his jersey self-consciously. "I'm going to suck."

"Nah," Rick said easily. "These guys? Total cake."

Kate ran her fingers through his hair. "Skate you ass off, okay?"

"Remy's afterwards?" Jonah smirked at her as she whacked him with the packaging for his laces, even as she raised her eyebrows in agreement.

Jonah stood experimentally on his skates, relishing in the familiar feeling. He adjusted his pads nervously, staring at his laces as his mother clipped his helmet on. "Chin up, baby."

He shot her a smile, sliding between her legs and hugging her as best as he could. Huffing out a breath, he gazed out at the ice once more. Hopping over the lower board section, he skated to where everyone was assembled in the middle, sliding next to one of the players.

"Hey, buddy." He smiled kindly. "You ready?"

Biting his lip and popping his mouth guard in, he glanced at the bench where his mother and the writer sat and nodded.

"Cool laces." Another one remarked, causing Jonah's face to twist into a smile as one of the coaches pulled him forward for introductions.

XxXxXxXxX

Something obviously weighing on his mind, Rick tapped his foot anxiously, earning him a few glares from Kate. He sat quietly for a few minutes, watching the guys on the ice instruct Jonah on how several drills would go and testing out his skills before they scrimmaged. Finally having enough of the silence, Rick turned to Kate. "Hey, can I ask for your opinion on something?"

"I usually don't get asked when I give opinions, but I'll bite. What?" Kate just barely tore her eyes from the ice, giving him the side eye.

"It's Alexis."

"What about her?" Kate looked concerned. She'd just seen the teenager the day before, when she'd picked up Jonah. She had looked a little harried from racing with him around the loft, but looked otherwise fine.

"Nothing's wrong," he clarified, recognizing her look. "But I worry about her, you know."

"Really? _Alexis_?" Kate snorted. If only he'd had a daughter whose teenage years mirrored her own. Then, maybe, he'd have true cause for worry. "I mean, you're a parent so it's understandable, but _Alexis_?"

Rick shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "I'm not worried about her like _that_. I just worry sometimes that, well, you know how great I can be at listening." When Kate didn't jump at the opportunity to rib him some more, he continued. "She talks to you, right?"

Kate wouldn't call the teenager and herself the best of friends, but the two had met semi-frequently for lunch or even just coffee and chatted. Hell, just two weeks prior she had asked Kate about her career building program and study abroad programs. "Yes, sometimes. Why?"

"Well, Mother, as great as she is, isn't exactly girl talk material. And God knows Meredith will turn everything around to be about herself. Hardly someone to actually talk to about girl things. There's kind of a shortage of good female confidants in her life."

Kate understood. If it weren't for the boys at the precinct and, recently, Rick, she'd probably worry about Jonah's male influences as well. She shifted her eyes again to focus on her son as he and the team went through another drill. "I wouldn't exactly call myself a good role model, Castle." She loved Alexis, she really did, but she wasn't exactly sure if she wanted the fifteen year old to be looking up to her for advice.

When she finally looked back up at him, his expression nearly took her breath away. "I don't know," he murmured lowly, just loud enough for her to hear over the sounds of sticks slapping the ice. "I think you're pretty damn extraordinary myself."

They held each other's gaze for a moment before she guiltily turned back towards the ice, focusing on the way her son easily glided along. He slipped between two defenders and shot the puck, and it smoothly arced into the net. The goalie, who had been totally at ease and probably ready to take it easy on the kid who had 'joined' the team for the day, looked stunned. Kate bit back a smirk as Jonah shot a a proud smile her way.

XxXxXxXxX

"That was so cool!" Jonah spat out his mouth guard with a grin. They'd just finished the scrimmage, where Jonah was allowed to pick his team, and they had barely pulled ahead at the end.

"You've got a great arm, Jonah." The goalie smiled. "I gotta say, you can probably shoot better than some of ours." Some of the other players looked properly offended, but smiled good-naturedly all the same.

Kate grinned, running her fingers through his sweaty hair as he beamed at the praise. "

Jonah shook hands and fist bumped the rest of the team.

"Hey, Ricky!" One of the guys yelled.

Rick turned around and met him with a grin. "Hey, how ya been?"

"Not bad, yourself?"

"Pretty good," Rick smiled before turning towards the two Becketts. "This is my old friend, Mike. We had a brief stint in junior high together."

"Yeah," he ribbed. "Until Ricky got himself booted for dropping a dissection worm down the front of Alicia Verano's sweater."

"Rick!" Kate hit him softly in the chest, looking at him in disbelief.

The writer merely shrugged, not bothering to act apologetic. "I was a 10 year old boy."

"That's no excuse. _I'm_ a ten year old boy." Jonah looked skeptical, even as he studied the player in front of him in wonder.

"Yes, and your mother has far more effective parenting techniques than mine did."

Kate paused, slightly insulted. "Was…that a compliment?"

Rick glanced at her. "Just pretend."

Kate was good at pretending. She pretended not to see the impressed look the captain gave Rick as she requested the day off. She pretended not to notice his hand on her back as they walked together, or the way her heart beat a little faster when she caught him staring a little too long. She pretended to be annoyed when he and Jonah ganged up on her. She pretended that it was no big deal, that he was just her friend like all of the other guys, but it was getting harder and harder. Especially now, as he concerned himself with not only her happiness, but her son's as well.

"So not only are you this little superstar-in-the-making's mom, but you're the poor cop Ricky's been shadowing too, eh?" Mike looked at her with interest, watching the way she glanced at Rick with something akin to affection.

Kate, deciding to play along, nodded and let out a long-suffering sigh. "Yeah. The very same"

"My condolences to you, then." He grinned, ducking away from the shoulder punch that Rick tried to send his way.

"Hey, hey!" Rick protested. "I'm not that bad!"

"Please." Kate laughed, leaning towards Mike conspiratorially. "Just last week he backed into a patrol officer's car trying to 'outsmart' my stay-in-the-car rule."

When he let out a loud laugh, Rick tried to glare at Kate. "I did say I was sorry. And paid for the damages."

After a few more moments of teasing Rick, Mike decided to head downstairs to wait for a shower, offering to show Jonah around the locker room in the meantime.

Plopping back down onto the bench, Kate glanced up at Rick. "He had a really good time."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It's not." Kate replied. "It's not. It's just, I can't..." She trailed off, shaking herself out of it and compartmentalizing it for later. "So. Remy's?"

An hour later, ravenous hunger and overwhelming exhaustion overpowered the young boy as his head drooped forward. Kate pulled him to her as they vacated their booth, heading towards the counter as they waved goodbye to their waitress.

Watching the way he melted into the detective as she forcibly insisted on paying their bill, Rick whispered over Jonah's bowed head. "10 bucks says he's out before we hit your street."

Kate tried not to smirk as she tucked her credit card back into her wallet. "Make it 20, and he doesn't make it to the intersection."

XxXxXxXxX

"Thank you." She whispered as they pulled into the garage.

Rick waved her off easily, glancing back at the boy sleeping in the back seat. Sometime between Kate buckling Jonah in and pulling out onto the street, he'd passed out cold and made Rick's wallet a little bit lighter. "Well worth the few strings I pulled." He slid from the drivers seat and pulled open the back door. He unbuckled Jonah and carefully slid him into his arms, easily lifting him and shutting the door with his hip.

In silence, they made their way into her building. When they reached the elevator, she sagged against the back wall and closed her eyes, jerking her head towards her son. "He's got the right idea."

Rick chuckled softly. "I thought he was going to fall asleep in his fries."

Kate grimaced as she remembered the ketchup and ranch dressing smears on the front of his shirt, already dreading that particular load of laundry.

They got off on her floor, and Rick stumbled as a yowling cat weaved around his feet. As Kate opened the door to the apartment, the cat slipped between her legs and headed straight towards an old pillow that sat on the ground, stretching stiffly as he settled on it. Rick shifted Jonah in his arms, raising an eyebrow.

Kate shrugged unapologetically. "I felt bad, he's been out here since yesterday. He may be a demon, but he's not too bad after a bath. Or, six. We wore gloves."

Rick grinned. "I knew there was a softie somewhere under that tough cop exterior."

She rolled her eyes. He'd already seen her almost at her lowest at the precinct. Giving an annoying yet innocent cat a can of food and a bed every now and then wasn't exactly an award-winning act.

Jonah shifted restlessly again and Kate jerked her head down the hall, indicating for Rick to follow her to his room.

As he finally stood next to Jonah's bed, Rick gently laid him down and Kate pulled the sheet and blanket over him as Rick quietly exited the room. She pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead before creeping out of the room after Rick, who stood waiting for her in the dim hallway.

"You thirsty?"

Rick shook his head. Even in the dark, she could feel his steady gaze on her. His silence unnerved her and she began to babble quietly as she twisted her fingers in her jeans.

"I don't think I've ever seen him more hyperactive. I thought I was going to have to start giving him Nyquil. Or at least some tea." She sighed. "You know, you've officially made this an impossible birthday to top." Kate bit her lip. She really should be angry with him. But the excitement that still was in Jonah's eyes as he told his favorite waitress at Remy's all about the day was enough to steam out the detective.

He smirked confidently, tucking his hands into his pockets as he leaned against the wall, pulling her to stand in front of him. "Don't worry, I'll come up with a way to top this next year."

Kate's breath caught as Rick studied her expression. The implication that he'd still be around, taking part in their lives and bringing her coffee and showering her son with things she could never afford otherwise, was too much.

"Too much." She murmured, steadily meeting his gaze. Even she was unsure if she meant the extent of his kindness, or the renegade feelings traipsing through her as they refused to look away from one another.

"Not enough." His eyes glinting in the dark, he firmly shook his head. "You're both amazing. You deserve it.."

Kate broke and finally looked down. "We..._I _don't deserve you."

"I beg to differ." Before she could say another word, Rick dipped down slightly, her bare feet making her only a few inches shorter than him as her head just reached his nose. Catching her eyes, he let his hands settle on her shoulders, using his thumbs to bring her head up. His palms slowly followed, and in moments his hands were framing her face as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

"Trust me," his lips quirked in an almost-smile. "I wouldn't rather be anywhere else." After a short pause, a large grin formed. "Besides," he teased softly "It's either this or I buy Alexis another Furby. And trust me, _no one_ wants that."

A laugh burst out of her without permission. "You ridiculous, ridiculous man." Kate whispered, the tears blurring her vision as she framed his face in her hands. Ignoring her every protesting instinct, she dragged his face towards hers, pressing their lips together. "Why?" She whispered against his lips, her eyes searching his as one hand dug into her waist. He simply smiled at her, using his elevated position to drag her up to him, taking her lips more firmly as her thumbs pressed into his jaw. "Do I really need to spell it out for you?" He murmured, pulling back and letting his other hand slowly slide from her cheek to her neck.

"Mmm, maybe." Kate's lips ghosted against his as she spoke, her heart hammering in her chest. She felt him smile as he smoothed his fingers along her hip.

"Well then, it looks like I've got my work cut out for me, huh?" Rick chuckled, dragging her just a bit closer and pressing themselves firmly together.

XxXxXxXxX


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Let's not talk about how many times I've rewritten this chapter. **

XxXxXxXxX

She licked her lips, refusing to open her eyes as she leaned against him. "What does this mean?"

"It doesn't have to mean anything." he whispered. "But I want it to."

"I-" Kate inhaled deeply, wishing with all her might that her heart would stop hammering and that she would be able to piece together a coherent thought that didn't involve his mouth. "Can we not talk about this when my son is only 20 feet away?"

He nodded against her and he let her step away, dropping his hand to rest on her back as they walked to the end of the hall.

She couldn't meet his eyes, not with the way he was looking at her, so she instead stared at the frame next to his head. She was maybe six years old in the picture, standing to her knees in water with her father. The sky was dark and gray behind them, but their smiles had illuminated the shot. She'd put it away, shortly after her mother's death when she didn't care to think about those happy memories with her father. Had even broken the glass one particularly frustrating night, when he refused to budge from a barstool and tried to buy her 20-year-old self a shot. But their relationship had mended, and the glass was replaced, and Jonah had hung it up without help when he was eight. It was those memories, the ones of her father and origami and wishes that brought her back to the man in front of her.

"Yes or no questions work for you?" He asked her softly, and before she could answer he was already asking. "Was that entirely unpleasant for you?"

A strangled laugh bubbled out of her throat, and she met his eyes with a smile. Their gazes held for a moment before she turned back towards the frame. "No."

The smile he was giving her made her fingers clench around themselves, her nails digging into her palms.

"Would you ever do it again?"

His eyes had changed, from warm and affectionate to nervous and hopeful, and something squeezed in her chest. Taking a half-step forward, she studied his face as the corners of his eyes crinkled even though he wasn't smiling. She tilted her head at him, biting her lip as she took another step towards him. "I could be okay with that."

"_Could_ is not a yes-or-no answer." Even though he was smiling, she could see the anxiousness in his eyes. Taking a deep breath and steadying herself, Kate tucked a few fingers into each of the rolled sleeves of his shirt. "I guess," she teased with a smile, pulling him in once more. Before she could pull away, however, his hand came up to firmly hold her in place. He immediately deepened the originally chaste kiss, his tongue licking at her bottom lip as he coaxed her into opening up to him.

Before he made her lose her train of thought, she pulled back, her eyes cautious. "What does this mean?"

"Whatever we want it to." he whispered softly as he nudged their faces together, noses and lips brushing by each other. She frowned before shaking her head against him.

"It's not that simple."

"We can _make _it that simple."

"I don't…I can't just jump into something. It's not just us in this, Castle." she whispered against him. "I've got Jonah, you've got Alexis. There's more than just me and you at stake here."

"Trust me, the way the looked at us last week when we fell asleep on the couch during Finding Nemo? They're on board this ship."

Pulling her lips away from his, she shook her head, poking his chest. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I do." Rick grinned, trying to kiss her again. Her hand immediately covered his mouth.

"You. Listen." Kate waited for him to nod before continuing. "If we…do _this_, we can't just jump into it half-assed without thinking about the consequences. That means slow. Like, sloth slow. Taking into account our children's feelings, their needs, before anything else."

"Baby steps." He repeated, the words muffled by her fingers as he stuck his tongue out behind them.

"Hey," she warned, trying to glare at him even as his hand moved from her waist to entangle with her free hand. His other hand lightly tickled her side, causing her to leap away from him, wrapping her arms around her waist in protest. "You'll lose more than just your fingers, Castle."

She allowed herself to be pulled back towards him. "I get it, I do. I don't want to mess this up as much as you don't." He tried to convey with his expression just how important it was to him, and stared intently at her for a few long moments before she tried to squirm away from his gaze.

"What do I want it to mean?" he asked softly as she turned her head and laughed shakily into his shoulder, digging her fingers into his biceps. "I want it to mean that you'll just…be here. That we'll actually talk about things instead of avoiding them like the plague."

She nodded slowly against him. "Okay."

"See? Not so hard, was it?"

Kate pressed her nails firmly into his skin, refusing to be dislodged as he tried to slip away.

"Kidding, kidding." he whined, rubbing his arms in protest once she released him. "I was going to see if Alexis wants to stop by in the morning. Bagels and doughnuts. But since you're feeling particularly violent these days, I should probably shelter-"

"If I don't have coffee by 9am, you'll see just how bad my violent streak gets."

XxXxXxXxX

Less than 12 hours later, both Rick and Alexis were greeted on the Beckett's doorstep by spurts of water and laughter.

Alexis wiped the water from her eyes just in time to see both Kate and Jonah disappearing down the hallway, both looking equally soaked.

"That's probably payback for our own welcoming party last week." Rick grumbled as he shook his hair out. Kate had looked just a little too gleeful as she pulled the trigger on him. A complete turnaround from her expression when he'd sprayed her hair full of whipped cream.

"You think?" Alexis rolled her eyes, thankful she hadn't bothered to put on makeup yet that morning and that Jonah had been more merciful with the trigger than his mother had been.

Rick stepped into the apartment, letting Alexis slip by him and head into the kitchen with the food as he set down two cups onto her bureau. Wiping his eyes and looking disdainfully at his very damp shirt, he glanced down the hallway before calling out to the detective. "You're lucky I didn't drop your coffee!"

Kate's voice sailed back, unconcerned. "You value your life more than that, Castle!"

Jonah appeared in the kitchen first, looking slightly dryer than the two Castles but still damp. Kate was right behind him, toweling her hair dry with a smirk.

The writer raised his eyebrows, glancing between Kate and her son. "Start the fun without us?"

"Mom was sleeping through the alarm." Jonah explained from the counter, taking a huge bite of a jelly doughnut. "And it took me _forever _to find the neon guns. So I went all out. And then mom got me with the sprayer in the kitchen."

When Rick looked towards Kate to explain, she merely shrugged. "We had ones that looked like the real thing, but we realized that waking up a cop even with a replica is a dangerous business."

"She tackled me."

"_That _wouldn't have changed if I'd seen your face first."

Jonah licked the rest of the jelly from his lips, making a face at her as she kissed his forehead. "_Maybe_ you'll give me a run for my money someday."

XxXxXxXxX

After both Jonah and Alexis had retreated to his room, Rick walked around the edge of the counter to stand in front of Kate. "Hey."

"Hey." she parroted, eyeing him with suspicion, waiting for him to move.

When Rick simply stared at her, tucking his hands into his pockets, Kate huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes. "What are we, _twelve_?"

"_You _wanted to take it slow."

"Yeah, slow. I didn't mean backwards. I hate this junior high crap."

He leaned in to be closer to her with a hopeful grin. "So do I get to kiss you?"

Kate smiled back before quickly looked both ways, and upon seeing that no children were in the vicinity, quickly pulled him in for a peck on the lips. Before Rick even opened his eyes, she was at the counter, digging through the bag.

"If you forgot my bear claw-"

She could be so predictable sometimes, and he grinned at her back as she searched almost desperately. "I value my life, detective. It's in there."

In Jonah's room, Alexis paged through the scrapbook the medical examiner had given him as he paced around her. "Mom is _really _happy this morning."

"Isn't she always?" Alexis asked absently. She knew that the detective wasn't quite the sunniest person on the planet, but she always seemed to be at least content.

Jonah gave Alexis a look that made the teenager feel almost idiotic. "She slept through her alarm. _And _didn't kill me when I woke her up with a water gun filled with _ice water_."

"Oh." The boy didn't look distressed, just merely curious. Maybe a little bit suspicious. "You think something's up?"

Jonah shrugged, cracking his door open to see his mother and the writer bickering, as always. "I dunno. But it doesn't matter why she's happy, as long as she is."

"You know, _you _make her happy." Alexis teased, nudging her shoulder into his knee.

"I know that." Jonah grinned, sitting down across from her on the floor before leaning in conspiratorially. "But I think your dad does too."

XxXxXxXxX

The younger Castle and Beckett reappeared, and they settled next to their respective parents in the living room.

Jonah glanced at the clock, frowning, before glancing behind him. "I need to get ready for class."

Rick followed his gaze to the detective, who was oblivious as she and his daughter talked a few feet away. He'd remembered Kate talking about Jonah's junior krav maga class, and was fascinated by the entire concept. "Hey, if you want, I can take you."

"Really?"

"Sure." Rick shrugged. "I love watching pros at work."

Jonah rolled his eyes with a grin. "We're not _pros_. But our instructor is. He's actually mom's old coach. That's how she got me in."

His interest peaked even more, the writer stood up, clapping his hands together. "Whaddaya say?" Rick pulled Jonah up from the couch as Kate looked over in confusion. "Grab your stuff, we can go."

"Sure!" Jonah hopped over the coffee table, nearly sprinting from the living room to the hallway.

"Go _where_?" Kate glanced at the clock. "Oh. Shit."

"Don't worry, Rick's gonna take me." Jonah yelled from down the hall.

"And do either of you know how to get there?" she yelled back, shooting an exasperated look at Rick.

"GPS." Rick explained, walking towards her. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Nah," Kate bent over to scribble down the address on a post-it. "Alexis and I will be fine."

Rick didn't particularly like the mischievous expression on their faces, but before he could say anything, Jonah came back with a bag over his shoulder.

"Ready."

Without taking his eyes from Kate's, Rick smirked as he kissed both of them on the forehead, steering Jonah towards the door. "Be back in a few hours. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Like that'll be a problem." Alexis rolled her eyes, while Kate glared daggers at him, her cheeks flushed.

"Bye, girls!" Jonah waggled his fingers, shutting the door behind him with a grin.

Under her breath, Alexis murmured lowly. "_So _not good."

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey, Kate?" Alexis appeared in her bedroom doorway, peering nervously around the corner. The detective had taken a quick shower, leaving the teenager anxiously waiting in the living room.

Pausing as she fastened the clasp of her necklace, she turned her head to smile at her. "Hey, Lex. What's up?"

"I…kind of need your help with something."

When Alexis offered no more information, Kate sat on the edge of her bed and waved the girl into her room. "Okay, I'll bite. What is it?" Alexis settled next to her, still picking at her thumbnails.

"I have a date tonight." Alexis whined, making a distressed face and flopping back on the bedspread.

"A _date_?" Kate leaned back to be level with Alexis, turning on her side to face her.

Alexis folded her hands over her stomach before turning her head, humor lacing her voice. "Yeah, you know, dinner and a movie?"

"Hey, I know what a date is." Kate glared at her indignantly. "I'm not _that _old."

Alexis giggled before speaking offhandedly. "I don't know, I might need to get my dad to give you a refresher course, though."

Kate sucked in a breath. She was so not ready to go there, especially with Alexis. So she diverted. "So what can I do for you for this mysterious date of yours?"

"Well," Alexis tucked her palm under her cheek. "He sees me at school every day. And I want this to be kind of special."

Ah, Kate understood, and she remembered the feeling all too well. "You talking clothes or hair and makeup?"

"Both?" Alexis asked nervously, startled when Kate sat up purposefully.

"Well, if you have your makeup, I can do that here if you want."

The redhead bit her lip. "I was thinking about maybe going back to the loft? You can help me pick out an outfit and then do my makeup and stuff there?"

Kate smiled warmly at her, and she relaxed slightly. "I can do that. Just let me grab my shoes."

It took them less than an hour to completely ravage Alexis's closet. Shehad finally settled on an almost vintage-looking navy blue top and a pair of cream and blue pinstriped shorts, and laid them out on her bed while Kate grabbed the stool from the guest bathroom.

Sitting in her bathroom at least, Alexis stood awkwardly at the counter, studying herself in the mirror. She'd applied her own light foundation and pulled out most of her makeup, and so she waited for the detective to return.

"Okay," Kate huffed, dragging in the seat and gently pushing Alexis back onto it. "What are we looking for here?"

Alexis tilted her head in thought as Kate started going through her makeup. "Something a little…different."

"I can do different." Kate smiled, but then paused. "You thinking smoky different or natural different?"

Alexis shrugged. "I like the way yours is. But whatever you think."

Kate settled Alexis onto a stool in front of the mirror and had her sit sideways. She stood between Alexis's legs and surveyed her, using two fingers to gently turn Alexis's face to different angles.

"Okay, close your eyes." Alexis obeyed, and Kate brushed the first strokes of eyes shadow onto her. "I haven't done this to someone else since I was eighteen." Kate smiled softly, her voice thick with the memories. "My mom was going to some fancy lawyer dinner, and she had to make a speech. Her hands were shaking so badly that she kept messing up. She and my dad were running late."

Alexis wrapped her pinky around Kate's. "Your mom was a lawyer?"

"Yeah," Kate laughed, smoothing the eye shadow out before popping open another color for the next light layer. "And a fierce one, too. She had everyone at the firm terrified into respect." Another trait she'd inherited from her mother. Demanding respect in a woefully male-dominated field. "She used to get so wrapped up in cases that my dad and I used to bet on when we'd find her snoring on paperwork."

Kate leaned back to admire her handiwork. She hummed in approval before finding the eyeliner she wanted. "I don't know how she balanced it all. Battling her cases in court with all that she had, going the extra mile for her clients like she did. And then coming home, making dinner with me and my dad. Checking my homework, running me to choir. Somehow _not _killing me for all the different ways I rebelled." Kate shook her head wistfully, clearing her throat as she moved onto Alexis's other eye. "She was the definition of a supermom."

"You seem to be doing a pretty good job."

The detective bit her lip sadly. "I do what I can. My dad made it easier, looking back. Jonah just gets our crabby neighbor."

"That's not true." Alexis said softly. "He has us, too."

Kate stopped, setting the eyeliner down and wrapping Alexis in a hug. "I know, sweetie. And I can't thank you and your father enough."

"No thanks needed." the redhead rested her chin on Kate's shoulder. "We love you both."

She released Alexis and allowed her to change the subject, and found herself in the middle of high school gossip.

Kate took one last look at Alexis before twisting the mascara closed "Done." Spinning her to look head-on into the mirror, Kate took a step to the side and began to clean up the sink.

"I love it." Alexis leaned over the sink to inspect herself more closely. "It's so totally _different _from what I usually wear but still…"

"Still you." When Alexis smiled shyly at her, Kate squeezed her shoulder. "Not that you need it anyways." When Alexis glanced at her skeptically, Kate rolled her eyes. "Seriously. Have you ever had an awkward phase?"

"Like you have?" Alexis challenged, trying to hide her smirk as she pulled out her ponytail.

"Hey," Kate defended. "I was born with flaming red hair that stuck straight up. When my mom saw me for the first time, she _laughed_."

Alexis tried to maintain a serious, contemplative face but failed miserably, bending over into a fit of giggles.

"Don't mess up that eyeliner!" Kate warned, eyeing the girl's flushed face as she laughed.

"I won't, I promise." Alexis finally regained control of herself, smiling innocently at the detective. "But, _please_ tell me there are pictures."

They worked together for Alexis's hair, with Alexis curling each strand and Kate twisting and securing each one into place. "I'm getting a flash-forward into what Homecoming is going to be like." Alexis sighed wistfully.

"You haven't gone?"

Alexis shook her head. "I was with dad instead, I was his date to a Black Pawn party."

"You chose _that_ over Homecoming?" Kate asked incredulously.

Laughing, Alexis dropped another piece of hair. "It wasn't that bad. Paula had a mental breakdown over him killing Derrick Storm, and there was a _huge_ chocolate fountain."

Kate failed to hide her snort as she carefully pinned the last piece of hair down.

"This jittery feeling is new, though."

Smiling endearingly at the teenager, who was wringing her hands now that she no longer had the curling iron to distract them, Kate pulled her into another hug. "Just, be as smart and beautiful as you usually are and everything will be fine."

Alexis threw her arms around the detective tightly, nearly knocking them both off-balance. "Thanks." Alexis mumbled into her shirt before pulling away shyly, but smiling.

"Don't thank me." Kate teased. "I just don't want to have to kill any teenage boys."

"You know," Alexis smiled slyly, "I'm surprised you haven't killed dad yet."

Kate couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Don't tell him I told you this, but he's actually not too bad. He actually proves himself useful. From time to time." Kate's grin told Alexis that she was merely joking at her father's expense.

"Oh I won't, his head's already ginormous about the whole thing. But really though, I can't imagine that _he's_ what you signed up for."

"I didn't sign on for a lot of things." Kate said softly. "Your father may be one of them, but at least he can lighten us all up."

Alexis smiled wistfully. "Yeah, he's pretty good at that. When I had the chickenpox, he spent the entire day acting out my Junie B Jones books to cheer me up."

Soon after they had cleaned the rest of the bathroom and Alexis had gotten dressed, the boys had returned, wielding brand new supersoakers with evil grins. "They were on sale." Rick justified, testing one out on the back of Jonah's head.

Kate side-stepped his advance towards her, pressing her palm on his chest. When he looked at her in confusion, she smiled over his shoulder. "Turn around."

Alexis was nervously walking down the stairs, her shoes and purse clutched in her hands.

"Wow." Rick turned around to get a full look. "You look so…"

"Gorgeous?" Kate teased from behind him.

"Grown up."

"You know I _a_m fifteen, dad. Almost sixteen." Alexis smirked at him, dropping her shoes next to the door and checking the time on her phone.

Rick clutched his chest in panic before schooling his features and then smiled warmly at his daughter. "She's right. You look gorgeous." He wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissing her head.

Meanwhile, Jonah snuck under Kate's arm, winding it around himself as he leaned into her. "Are you going to be this bad when I go on my first date?"

"Date?" Kate squeezed his arm. "I don't know what you're talking about."

When her date finally knocked on the door fifteen minutes later, Alexis nearly jumped from her seat. Kate gave her a comforting squeeze before her entire body tensed.

"Oh, God!" Alexis stood quickly. "We left my dad and Jonah out there alone."

"Crap." They both whirled around the corner to find the door open with the two supersoaker-wielders in front of a terrified teenage boy.

"Dad! Jonah!" Alexis stormed up to them, snatching both guns and passing them off to Kate.

"I'm so sorry." she turned to her date apologetically. "I forgot to cage the baboons." She glanced back at Kate, who had trapped Jonah in a headlock and was giving her father a look that made him tiptoe slowly away. "You got this?" Alexis smiled gratefully when Kate nodded, as her date wiped stray droplets from his neck and collar, shooting a nervous look between the still smirking writer and ten year old, to the rather annoyed expression of the woman behind them.

"Uh, nice t-nice to meet you, Mr. Castle." the boy stuttered.

Rick grinned before speaking with just a little too much enthusiasm. "The pleasure was all mine."

His daughter glared at him before stepping into the hallway. He and Jonah, who had managed to wriggle from his mother's arm, high-fived, earning Kate another panicked look from Alexis.

Kate rolled her eyes before leveling both boys with a look. "Don't worry, I'll deal with them."

XxXxXxXxX


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I got a little sidetracked. I'm taking a semester off, which means I do technically have more time to write, but right now life is going to be a little messy. I kind of talked about it on tumblr the other day, so if you really want to know you can stalk me there. Or, message me I guess. Or just carry on and not care. Whichever. Also, if you stalk my tumblr, you may or may not find a picture of "my" Jonah. If you want to keep your own image, that's cool too.**

XxXxXxXxX

The next few days were miserable. Case after case had been rolling in, and everyone at the precinct was exhausted. It was even getting to the usually optimistic Ryan, who had spent the better part of the day listening to people rant about how much they hated the latest victim.

"Did this guy even have any friends?" Ryan grumbled, dropping into his seat with a relieved sigh.

"Looks doubtful." Kate told him, entirely frustrated by the situation. Everyone was looking to be a potential suspect, and weeding out the ones who merely held a grudge from those who had a real reason to kill was proving to be a daunting task.

After another two hours of fruitless searching, Kate looked around the otherwise-empty precinct and sent Esposito and Ryan home. Both were happy to oblige, but Rick stayed stubbornly at her side.

He still seemed a little terrified of her after the weekend. Jonah was mostly indifferent, yet appropriately guilty, but the writer seemed much more chagrined. She and Jonah had still stayed for dinner, but Rick looked anxiously at the clock every few minutes.

_"She's not supposed to be back until eight, Castle." Kate tried to hide her amusement. As tormenting as he had been to his daughter's date, Kate knew where he was coming from and couldn't fault him for it. Although, she thought he could have come up with more subtle ways to scare the pants off the boy. In her experience, psychological games were just as effective, if not more so, than the physical ones._

_Kate had relaxed into the couch, Jonah tucked into her side, as she dreaded returning to work the next day. Being away from the precinct for more than several days always built up trouble, and even more so now that the summer months were just around the corner. Rick sat on the other side of her son, effectively sandwiching him in, and he grinned over his sleeping head._

_"We really tire him out."_

_She'd heard all about his afternoon with Rick, with the writer getting the wind knocked out of him by a thirteen year old, and the select few mothers who had taken an interest in Kate Beckett's son being shuttled to karate class by a famous writer. Another situation that would be fun to deal with. Some of them already looked down their noses at her, the single mother with a dangerous job, but she was pretty adept in ignoring it, or scaring them off._

_"Yeah," Kate kissed Jonah's head. As Rick cupped his chin with his hand, she was suddenly struck by the image of him as a child, squished, pouty face and all. Fighting back a laugh, she met his eyes. "I'm pretty sure Alexis says the same thing about you."_

The bullpen was silent, and it was nearing 8pm. Montgomery had sent everyone else home after they'd hit yet another dead end, but Kate had stubbornly stayed and Rick had followed her. Everyone was feeling agitated by the case, and Rick was no different. As he guessed all the different, outlandish reasons one man would be hated by so many people, Kate's lips twisted into something resembling a smile. Letting a slow breath out through her nose, she stopped him mid-sentence. "Thanks, Castle."

Taken off-guard, he paused. "I didn't do anything." He hadn't known what to do with himself the entire day. He spent most of his time shuffling through papers, toying with the elephants on the edge of her desk, trying to make some sort of sense out of the case in his head. He figured he'd been more annoying than helpful that day, if the irritated glance from Esposito when he started tapping his foot was any indication.

She smiled, for real this time. "You do." Leaning over, she pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek before pulling herself to her feet and offering a hand to him. "Take out?"

And so it went. Chinese take-out boxes spread across her desk and marker smudges on her fingers as they theorized into the evening. Several leads were looking like they could pan out, but neither of them were holding their breath. There were too many missing pieces, too many variables, too many people to look at.

When ten o'clock came around, she let out a long sigh and stopped picking at an egg roll. "Sometimes I just wish I could tuck my kid in every night."

"I wish my kid stil_l let _me tuck her in."

Kate smiled sympathetically at him, pressing the first speed dial on her phone. It didn't even ring fully once before a voice drifted over the line.

"Mom?"

"You should be in bed."

"If you thought I was in bed, you wouldn't have called."

"Touche. Are you _almost_ in bed?"

"I am. I was waiting for you to call."

"Sorry, baby." Kate sighed. She could hear the sleep in his voice, and she wondering if he'd kept the phone by his bed as he dozed.

"No, it's okay. Lex is sleeping on the couch. We watched The Two Towers and made dorito bag tacos."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah. You gonna be there late?"

"Looks like it, bud. But I'll be there when you wake up."

"Okay." There was silence for a moment, and Kate could tell that he was unsure. "Can I talk to Rick for a second?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, she glanced at the writer in confusion. "Sure."

Rick raised his eyebrows in surprise when she extended her phone to him, but spoke cheerfully. "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Rick. Can you do me a favor?"

Despite the nervousness in his voice, he cut right to the chase just like his mother. Rick smiled in amusement. "Sure thing. What?"

"Make sure mom sleeps? She's been trying to be sneaky, she came home yesterday right before I was supposed to wake up and went right back to work when she dropped me off at school. I hate when she does that. She gets those dark circles under her eyes."

He glanced at the woman next to him, pretending that she wasn't trying to listen. Rick was appreciative of her phone's low volume, wondering how she'd react if she knew her son was asking him to look out for her. "You got it."

"Thanks, Rick." Jonah let out a sigh. "If she's too tired to tell you, our key is the third one."

"Noted. Okay, I'll give you back to your mom before she has an anxiety attack." Rick passed the phone to Kate with a smirk, studiously ignoring her questioning expression.

She really was glad that her son had hit it off so well with the writer, but she wasn't exactly sure if she liked the mischievous tone their relationship boasted. "Are you ready for bed?"

"I am." Jonah promised. "I already brushed my teeth and everything."

"Good." Kate smiled as he yawned loudly. "Go to sleep, baby bear."

Without arguing, he sighed softly. "Love you to the moon."

"And back." She held the phone to her ear until he disconnected before pressing her fingers into her temple.

Leaning forward to study the murder board, a sudden thought popped into his head. "Hey, what if-

XxXxXxXxX

Something was poking her side. Instinctively trying to scoot away from it, her chair rolled and jolted her into awareness. "Castle?" she mumbled, blinking her bleary eyes. She lifted her head and felt the sudden lack of warmth on her cheek, slowly realizing that she had been asleep on Rick's shoulder.

The writer looked all too pleased with himself. "I talked you to sleep."

"No surprise there." Kate mumbled, wiping her eyes and checking the time. "It's past midnight. Why didn't you wake me up?"

He shrugged. "You looked…reasonably comfortable." He studied her carefully before saying his next words. "Look. We're not going to do much good if we're dead on our feet."

"Is this your way of suggesting that I fall back asleep in my own bed instead of on your arm?"

"Was I complaining?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Fine."

He pulled her to her feet and firmly held onto her hand as he led her to the elevator. They rode down in silence, the only noise being the creaking of parts. His thumb gently rubbed the back of her hand as she sagged slightly into him. "I made a promise to your kid to get you to sleep tonight." He said it lightly, like he didn't take pride in the fact that her over-protective son was looking to him on her behalf. Not that she really needed it, or would even admit to needing it, but it was something.

"Did you now?" She sounded too tired to really care, but her tone was challenging nonetheless.

When he nodded, Kate rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself, without you boys sneaking around and conspiring."

"But you don't always have to."

Kate sighed, leaning back against his arm and closing her eyes. "I do."

He wrapped an arm around her, anchoring her more firmly to his side as he kissed her head. He'd argue with her another day, when she wasn't dead on her feet and nearly falling asleep against him.

In what felt like minutes, Kate was jostled from her sleep-like state. "Your door." his voice infused with humor, Kate blinked her eyes open. She belatedly realized that they were at her apartment, and that his fingers were sliding out of her pocket with her keys.

"We're already here?"

"You practically sleepwalked from the car." He grinned, sliding the key into the lock while keeping his other arm secured around her.

"Oh."

She sleepily turned to face him, pressing into him and bringing his lips down to hers. With the door unlocked but still closed, he backed her into it. The kiss was neither hurried nor languid, but rather a mix of the two. She teasingly bit his lower lip as he pulled away, resting her forehead against his while trying to control her breathing. Rick slowly untangled one hand from her hair, the other one still rubbing circles on her lower back. When he pulled back to look into her eyes, despite the hazy lust and teasing glint, he could see that she was completely exhausted.

"Do me a favor?" He breathed as she tucked her head into his neck. "At least take your shoes off before you pass out."

She mustered up enough energy to lift her head and roll her eyes at him before she headed inside, leaving him alone to wake up his daughter as she fell face-first into the pillows.

Kate was jolted into awareness by a body throwing itself next to her. "You left your shoes on." She slowly opened her eyes to find her son's bright with amusement.

Blearily, she rolled from her stomach to her side to face him. She didn't even want to look at the state her clothes must be in. "I did? Oh, shit." She toed them off with a short laugh, sinking back into her bed with a sigh.

Jonah wiggled under her arm, tucking his head under hers. "Is it a hard one?"

She nodded against his hair as he snuggled into her. "There's too many possibilities. I don't know who to look at."

"You'll get 'em." Jonah mumbled confidently, kissing her chin.

"At least one of us is confident."

"You will. Especially with Rick there too. You guys are like, Batman and Robin."

Laughing, Kate tickled his sides lightly. "Really? I can't see him in tights."

They laid in silence for almost twenty minutes, until the alarm next to the bed went off. Kate sat up with a groan, pulling him with her. "Come on, if we hurry we can make it to the cafe for breakfast."

XxXxXxXxX

For once, one of Rick's crazy theories panned out. They brought in the victim's butler, who had broken in no less than three hours of interrogation. Years of underpaid, harshly criticized and mostly thankless work had pushed him to the edge, and he had stabbed his employer in the back as he walked away. Rick didn't even have the heart to crack a "the butler did it" joke, and sat silently as they led the unapologetic man away. The case closing had left everyone it slightly better spirits, and while Rick headed out for a meeting with his publisher, Kate headed over to the Castle loft to pick up her son.

Lightly knocking on the door, she let the tension drain from her body. There were no murders here, just two charming redheads and her own child, and she couldn't help but feel relieved. 15 years ago, she would've been embarrassed to be such a homebody, but right now she wanted nothing more than a few hugs and a square meal.

"Oh, hello dear." Martha opened the door, immediately pulling Kate forward into the loft. "Why are you knocking? Don't tell me no one has given you a key."

Completely caught off-guard, Kate could barely form a cohesive thought. "Uh…"

"I mean, really." Martha shook her head. "The two of you are over here almost every day."

She squirmed under the woman's matronly gaze, feeling quite exposed in front of her. Martha had yet to find out about the confusing state of her and her son's relationship, but she had a feeling that the older woman suspected _something_. Especially with the way her eyes sparkled in amusement at Kate's discomfort.

"Your son, he really reminds me of Richard sometimes."

At Kate's panicked look, Martha let out a loud laugh. "Only the good qualities, I promise, dear." The detective's questioning look must have spurred her on, and she continued. "Well he's protective, for one. Richard always had a way of being slightly overbearing, with the best of interests of course. His heart is one of his best qualities. He may be a child most of the time, but he'll go to any length to protect the ones he loves." Kate felt her cheeks heat up as Martha winked at her. "And his humor, well, you know my son and you sure as hell know your own."

As Kate nearly snorted, Martha set down her glass at placed both hands gently on her shoulders. "You've done a very good job, you know. I know firsthand that being a single mother is no easy task. Especially at that age. I have to say, you've handled it with much more grace than I ever did."

Martha waved off all of Kate's reassurances with a grin. "I know Richard turned out fine, eventually." Pausing briefly, another smile crossed her face. "I like you, Detective. Stick around." She squeezed Kate's shoulders before releasing her with another grin, picking her glass back up and glancing fondly at a picture of a much younger version of her son.

Kate spotted Jonah sitting at the end of the couch, with Alexis asleep next to him and her feet buried under his legs. She excused herself from the older woman's knowing stare, heading into the other room.

"Up for a late dinner, bud?" Kate asked softly, sitting on the arm of the chair next to him and pressing a kiss into his hair. She didn't have time to linger over Martha's words. The promise of a bacon cheeseburger and a few solid hours with her kid were within her grasp.

"Depends." he twisted his body to face her, his green eyes mirroring hers. "Milkshakes, too?"

She kissed him on the nose before pulling him from the couch, brushing a few fingers over the lines on Alexis's forehead. Martha trapped them both in her arms before they made it to the door, squeezing them both briefly before releasing them into the hallway.

The night air was surprisingly cool, and it had them both shivering in their light clothes as they stepped outside. Jonah squeezed her hand as he tucked himself into his side as they walked to the car. "Do you think we can go to The Hamptons for the 4th of July?"

"Why on earth would we go to The Hamptons?" Kate laughed, squeezing his body closer to hers.

"Because," he drew out, "Rick and Lex have a house there. They have a few guest rooms and-"

Kate sighed before gently cutting him off. "I don't even know if I'll have the fourth off, let alone have enough time to go to The Hamptons."

"But just say that you did," Jonah badgered, looking up hopefully. "Could we go then?"

"I don't know…" Kate sighed. "Let me think about it."

"Ugh," Jonah groaned. "I hate it when you say that."

XxXxXxXxX

"What about this one?" It was Saturday morning, and by the time Rick arrived at the precinct, Kate and Jonah were engrossed in the screen in front of them.

Kate glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "You only like that one because there's a pool."

"So sue me." Jonah grinned, ducking a swat as he eyed the computer from her lap. "Fine, what about that one?"

"What's up guys?" Rick looked at them curiously, setting down the cups he was carrying as he settled into his chair.

"We're moving." Jonah informed him shortly, not taking his eyes from the screen. "Look, it's three bedrooms, two bathrooms, good view…"

The writer raised his eyebrows. "What?" As far as he could tell, Kate loved her apartment. It was a little cozy, but comfortable.

Kate smiled at him from over Jonah's head as he passed her coffee over and slid a hot chocolate to Jonah. "Honestly, the rent is ridiculous. Especially when there's so many fu-freaking maintenance problems." She shot Jonah a sly grin, closing the listing that boasted the pool. "We've only been there this long for convenience." It was a reasonable distance from Jonah's school and the precinct, and she genuinely liked many of the people there. Mrs. Hurst included, even though she was getting crankier every day.

"The hot water went out again this morning." Jonah offered, taking a sip of hot chocolate and wrinkling his nose at the memory.

Kate grimaced. "And the super doesn't turn the air on until July."

"I could help, if you want." Rick offered, already making a mental note to call the realtor that had gotten him his loft.

Kate gave him a skeptical look. "I think we're in different price ranges."

"Come on," Rick wheedled. When she looked at him disbelievingly, he gave her his most genuine grin. "It could be fun."

"Yeah, come on, mom." Jonah leaned back against her. "Plus, he could lift all those heavy boxes you keep in the closet."

She sighed in defeat. "Fine. But only because those boxes are heavy and the boys have already promised to take care of the furniture. And you'd have to bring Alexis, for sanity's sake."

Rick and Jonah high-fived, and Kate rolled her eyes before excusing herself to the bathroom.

When Kate was out of earshot, Rick turned to Jonah. "Remember how good I kept your fight secret? Well now I kind of have one for you."

XxXxXxXxX


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: In honor of Castle Monday? Remember me? Well. It's been a while. This chapter has been giving me hell for ages. But let's just cut to the chase and have a chapter because my excuses are fuzzy and circumstantial.**

XxXxXxXxX

By the time Kate reappeared in the room, her son had pocketed the small silver key ring with a grin, and the knot in Rick's stomach had slowly unwound itself. Jonah would know what to do.

If Kate suspected anything, she didn't let on as she ribbed. Jonah abandoned the pair in favor of playing paper football with Esposito and Ryan, and Castle was content just to watch her work.

"You do know how creepy you are, right?"

"And yet you put up with it." Rick grinned at her. "I think it says more about you than it does about me."

Kate shot him a half-amused look and turned back to her paperwork, biting back a smile. When he reached forward to toy with one of the elephants on the edge of her desk, she didn't even look up from her desk when she slapped his hand down. It stung slightly, and he was about to pout at her when, instead of pulling away, her hand lightly curled around his fingers. She smirked at his slightly stunned look, even briefly brushing her thumb over his knuckles.

Semi-public displays of affection. This was new.

Esposito took notice, and subtly kicked Ryan's chair as Jonah flicked the paper football at him. When Ryan flinched, moving his fingers and causing Jonah to miss, the ten year old glared at the detectives.

"You guys are pitiful." Jonah muttered, glancing back towards his mother and the writer before turning back to level the two men with another glare. "_And _nosy."

Kate noticed Esposito grinning their way, and narrowed her eyes at him as she slid her hand down to her lap. Rick frowned at her, but withdrew his hand as well, reaching into his pocket to continue his game of Angry Birds. She pretended not to notice the subtle urge to grab it back and she fiddled with her pen, finally giving up the pretense of work.

She looked on in amusement as her son bossed around the two older detectives, instructing them how to properly make a finger goal and hold still.

"Cam gets distracted by the wind blowing and she still makes a better goal than you two baboons." Jonah rolled his eyes good-naturedly, narrowly ducking swats from both Ryan and Esposito, but taken by surprise to the one that came from behind.

Captain Montgomery was staring down at him expectantly. "Yeah, let's see if you're all talk and no action, young Beckett." Montgomery threw Esposito out of his seat, swiping the paper football from Jonah before raising his eyebrows. "That is, if you're up to it."

Jonah immediately perked up at the challenge, one of the very many traits he inherited from his mother. "It's on!" the ten year old grinned, and Rick abandoned his seat at Kate's desk for a better vantage point, eagerly rubbing his hands together for a show.

"Good luck, J-Mac." Kate shook her head in amusement, attempting to return back to her paperwork only to look on in amusement as the captain completely schooled her child.

"You and Castle seem to be looking pretty cozy over there." Esposito commented casually, a slightly teasing look in his eyes as he slid into the seat vacated by the writer.

"So do you and Ryan." Kate shot back easily. "Anything you wanna share with the class?"

Esposito narrowed his eyes at her, unperturbed. "Yeah, you've caught us. We're madly in love."

"Hey!" Ryan protested, overhearing their conversation and glancing quickly around. "Jenny."

"Relax, Ryan, she won't be here until lunch." Kate teased, glancing down at her watch.

He still grumbled, throwing a pen at Esposito that he easily caught before returning his full attention to the floor-wiping being done with the youngest "member" of the team.

She and Esposito sat in silence for a moment, before she finally rolled her eyes at herself and nudged him. "Can I talk to you?"

He leaned back in the chair, folding his arms behind his head. "What's up?"

"I don't know what I'm doing." Kate sighed, pressing her chin into the heel of her palm as she spoke lowly.

He waited for her to elaborate, only raising his eyebrows in response.

"Castle."

A disgusted look crossed his face. "You're _doing _Cas-"

"No!" she swatted at him with a glare. "God, Espo. But I think we might be…_almost _dating."

"How can you be _almost _dating?"

"I don't know." Kate glared at him. "That would be the problem."

"Well," Esposito leaned forward, regarding her seriously. "Do you want-"

Kate bit her lip. "Yes. But," she sighed heavily. "There's so much to lose."

Esposito frowned. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, you know that, right? I am such a girl."

Kate laughed. "I appreciate you and you know it."

He huffed out a breath and spoke as if he was reading from a textbook. "If you pretended that nothing happened, would you regret it?"

"Yes."

"Then what the hell are you still talking to me for? I'm not braiding your hair."

She could only shrug helplessly, a small smile on her face as she watched Rick consolingly ruffle her son's dark hair.

XxXxXxXxX

The next day, when Jonah popped out of the apartment, Rick was surprised to see a cat winding around his legs.

"Shithead, still?"

Jonah ushered him in with an eye roll. "Mrs. Hurst moved downstairs last week. And her homecare worker's allergic."

Rick grinned at him knowingly. "So you suckered your mom into keeping him?"

"Mom suckered _me_." Jonah grinned back. "Don't tell her I told you, but she's got a soft spot the size of a _crater _for animals."

The writer stopped halfway through the doorway. "Really?" Katherine Beckett, sucker for the soft and fuzzy. He smiled at the thought.

Jonah nodded, smiling mischievously. "When she was eight, she conned my grandpa into letting her keep a baby raccoon as a pet for a few months. Named Bingo."

Rick stopped inside the doorway, quirking an eyebrow. "You're kidding."

As Jonah shook his head emphatically, Kate snaked an arm around him, trapping his head between her arm and side. "Kidding about what?"

"Oh, uh," Rick stammered. Jonah gave him an panicked look. "Jonah was just-"

Kate looked over at him indignantly. "Save it. I'm a _detective_."

When both males refused to elaborate, Kate darted her eyes between them, grousing. "Fine. Don't tell me."

There was a moment of silence before Kate sighed in defeat. "So, are we picking Alexis up from rehearsal?" Alexis had gotten a supporting role in the local youth production, and rehearsals had just started that week.

Rick shook his head. "The theatre's down the street from the diner, so she's meeting us there. And then, apartment hunting time."

Kate smiled with forced enthusiasm. As much as she was ready to move on to a new place, she loathed the process of actually _finding _one.

"Well, let's get this show on the road then."

The three of them quickly vacated the apartment and loaded into Rick's SUV, deeming Kate's too impractical. Rick enthusiastically taped the addresses of apartments they'd be looking at just above a radio, tapping the second one on the list with his finger.

"This one's closest to the diner, so if there's no objections, I can tell my realtor to meet us there first."

Kate shrugged moodily. "You're driving."

Rick shot a smirk at her as he pulled onto the street. "Don't be grumpy just because I don't _always _let you drive."

"You don't _let _me drive." Kate said indignantly, elbowing him lightly.

"Of course he does." Jonah piped up from the back. "He values his life."

"Exactly!" Rick glanced into the rearview mirror, meeting the mischievous eyes of the youngest Beckett.

"Now I see why you made me leave my gun at the apartment." Kate groaned, pressing her head against the window. "When do I get Alexis again?"

But the teenager still hadn't arrived by the time they were ready to order more than entrées, so Jonah excused himself to the bathroom while Kate absently coloured on his placemat, sipping lightly from her drink.

They sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes, before Rick finally spoke what had been on his mind for the last few days.

"So, are we dating?"

Kate nearly spit out her soda, and the man reading the paper at the table next to them gave her a strange look. "_What?_" She was _not _expecting to have this conversation so soon, let alone in a public place.

"I think you should." Jonah's head popped up from the booth behind Kate. Before she could turn around, he wrapped his arms around her upper body and kissed her cheek, effectively stilling her.

Popping up from behind her father, Alexis leaned forward and stole a fry from her plate. "Me too."

"I-what?" Rick twisted his body around in surprise, taking in his daughter's proud smirk. "How did you sneak in here?"

"Date. You guys should do it." Jonah ignored Rick as he spoke slowly, as if explaining it to a small child.

"They're like _ninjas_." Rick muttered. "Totally didn't see that coming."

Ignoring Rick's comments as well, a flustered Kate nearly snapped the blue crayon in half. "I-this isn't something that's up for debate."

"Why not?" Alexis came around the side to slide next to her, slinging an arm around her. "You guys like us, we like you guys. It's great."

Rick managed to smirk across the table at her. "The oracles have spoken."

"Did you plan this?" Kate accused lightly, finally dropping the crayon to pick at an onion ring.

He sighed in mock regret. "Even I'm not _that _good. We've both produced monsters."

Alexis turned to Jonah, who was leaning against the back of the booth, arms still draped around his mother. "No matter what happens, I call top bunk."

"_I _want top bunk."

"Too bad, I'm older." Alexis shot back, clearly enjoying her newfound ability to boss someone _actually _younger than her around.

Jonah frowned petulantly. "So?"

Rick and Kate looked at each other incredulously, their children casually discussed the idea of living together.

"Whoa, guys, lets not get ahead of ourselves." Rick finally interrupted, trying to give both children stern looks and failing miserably.

"Yeah, mom's probably freaking." Jonah glanced at his mother's face and leaned over the back of the booth to pat her head consolingly. "Yep. It's okay mom, we're only kidding."

Jonah turned back to Alexis. "If you get top bunk, _I _get full veto powers on the room decorations. No pretty pretty princess junk."

"Do I _look _like a girl who is into pretty pretty princess junk?" Alexis scoffed indignantly, crossing her arms and making a face at him.

He eyed her skeptically. "I thought the same thing about mom until I found her and Camdyn sitting on top of the kitchen table wearing tiaras."

Kate shot a glare at her son as Rick raised both eyebrows.

Panicking, Jonah straightened his posture. "I mean, it was only 'cause she lost a bet to Lanie."

"And what bet was that?"

Jonah grinned with pride. "Lanie bet that mom couldn't stuff-"

"Jonah Malcolm." Kate warned, a smile playing her features as she remembered that particular incidence. She was fairly certain she could taste traces of black olives for weeks after that particular dare.

Alexis impatiently tapped the table with her index finger. "So. Dating."

"Al-"

"Rick." Kate stopped him, biting her lip with a mischievous grin. "I don't allow TVs in my kid's bedroom."

"I-what?" Rick stopped, looking at her with widened eyes.

Kate's grin grew slightly larger, joining in on the joke to the delight of both Jonah and Alexis. "If they're sharing a room, they'll have to abide by the same rules. Deal?"

Rick's eyes sparkled as he extended his arm towards her, clasping her hand in his before shaking it professionally. "Deal."

"That went well." Alexis smiled, her eyes shining as she pulled Jonah under her arm and slid him into Kate's side of the booth as well. The detective pouted in protest as she was nearly pressed against the wall.

The look in Rick's eyes asked her if she was truly okay with this new development, and as their children bickered about what gadgets their imaginary shared bedroom would have, she could only roll her eyes with a smile.

"So, I take that as a 'yes, we're dating'?"

Kate sighed as the waitress approached, reaching out to briefly squeeze his hand. "Shut up and order, Castle."

XxXxXxXxX

Too dreary, she'd decided instantly. The walls were a plain beige, and the ceilings were low and stifling.

The second one hadn't faired much better. Jonah had disliked the two-bedroom layout, protesting that if Alexis ever spent the night, she shouldn't have to sleep on the couch and he _definitely _wasn't sharing his room.

The third had piqued Kate's interest, it had a slightly Victorian feel and huge skylights. That is, until she saw the price. "I'm not paying that much for an apartment with mustard-colored bathrooms. I have standards, you know."

The fourth and final one had been a bust on all counts, Kate was against the large windows that lacked proper coverage, Alexis frowned at a suspicious looking stain on the carpet, Rick was astounded that it lacked a master bathroom and Jonah balked at the no animal policy. "Shi-I mean, _the cat, _has to stay somewhere!"

The two Castles and the two Becketts retreated to the SUV with matching expressions of defeat.

"I'll start googling tonight." Alexis promised, slipping off her shoe to rub the sole of her foot. "I'll find one that doesn't suck, _dad_."

"Please." Kate begged, letting her head loll against the back of the seat. "I don't know if I can take much more of that."

Rick winked at Jonah in the mirror, before sympathetically rubbing his fingers over Kate's knuckles. "Well, at least we know it can't get much worse."

"Not helping." Kate groaned, letting her head loll against the seat in relief as they pulled out of the last parking garage.

Later that night, Lanie appeared with a bottle of wine and a Cheshire grin. "Girl, what are you doing?"

"What?"

"You just spent the _entire day _with a man, looking at _apartments_. And you're not even dating that very man."

"About that-"

"Oh, please tell me that you two got your heads out of your asses." She read the look on Kate's face before the detective could even speak. "And it's about damn time." Lanie bit out with a grin, wrapping Kate in a hug. The medical examiner pulled back, critically eyeing her friend before speaking once more.

"Now, what's wrong?"

As expected, Kate immediately denied it. "Nothing, Lanie. Everything's fine."

Lanie frowned at her. She was one of the few people still in Kate's life that had known her before she'd become pregnant. She got to see firsthand the changes that the detective had underwent back then, from the reckless and guilt ridden rookie to the self-assured detective that she now was

Lanie had always had a deep affection for the tiny, wriggling Jonah from the moment she laid eyes on him. Of course, as godmother, it was expected. But the way Kate looked at him, even when Kate herself was unsure if she was cut out for motherhood, made one thing clear: he centered her. Now, over 10 years later, she was seeing the same thing once again, with yet another person new in Kate's life.

It was a real task to get the detective to be herself around anyone other than her son and a select few colleagues. But the way the medical examiner saw her with Rick gave her hope.

Kate was usually cool and collected, virtually unshakable until her family was brought into the mix. Her father's alcoholism and abandonment. Her mother's murder. Her son. And now, Rick.

"_And he had the nerve to wink at me. _Wink_, Lanie. Like it was all some sort of game."_

"_I wouldn't mind playing with _him_…"_

_Kate gave her an incredulous look. "He's an arrogant, overbearing-"_

"_You _totally _have the hots for him."_

"_Lanie, wha-okay, no, that's completely off base!"_

Lanie hadn't bought her denial for a second. While the writer had certainly gotten on Kate's nerves rather quickly, it was her vehement responses to him that convinced Lanie that something else was going on in her friend's head, whether she herself recognized it or not.

"Really, Lanie. It's all good. I'm good. We're good."

The meaning not lost on the medical examiner, Lanie sized her up before gracing her friend with a satisfied nod. "Okay. I believe you."

Kate smiled gratefully at her before turning her attention to the wine. "And that is _really _good."

XxXxXxXxX

When Rick held open the door of the Castle residence for his daughter, he was immediately assaulted with the sounds of his mother enthusiastically working her way through a scene from what he could only assume was a tale of abject horror.

"Hello, mother." He said slowly, ushering the younger redhead cautiously through the door and whispering to her as she passed. "If she starts to sing, run."

Choosing to ignore him, Alexis smiled at her grandmother brightly. "Hi, grams!"

"Hello, darlings! How did it go?" Martha looked slightly disappointed at having been interrupted, but smiled enthusiastically at them nonetheless.

"It was a bust." Alexis sighed. "I'm going to some heavy searching on my laptop."

As Alexis grabbed a handful of granola bars and headed up to her bedroom, Martha fingered a small slip of paper in her pocket knowingly. As soon as the teenager disappeared, Martha admonished him. "Richard Alexander Rodgers."

"What?"

Martha shook her head at him with a slight smile. "I know what you're up to."

He looked at her innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

His mother rolled her eyes with a flair that only a trained performer could execute. "You're not as sneaky as you think you are, kiddo."

"How do you mean?"

Martha pulled the receipt from her pocket and waved it in front of her. "Keys, Richard? Really?"

"For Jonah." Rick said defensively. "In case we're busy and can't answer the door."

"Whatever you say, darling." Martha kissed his forehead indulgently. "Don't think I don't chat with the building manager from time to time, kiddo."

Rick sighed heavily as his mother smiled both knowingly and smugly, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

XxXxXxXxX


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Let's not talk about how horrible a procrastinator I am and remember we got a PROMO last night.**

XxXxXxX

When Kate arrived at the Castle loft the next evening, she was so easily conned into staying for dinner by Martha she wasn't quite sure she planned on leaving in the first place. Alexis smiled triumphantly from the kitchen, a small dab of flour on her nose and on her apron. Kate had to stop herself from snorting when her son popped up from underneath the counter, his hair a powdery white and his face decisively pouty.

Tilting her head at Alexis, Kate winked at her. "I take it you won that battle?"

Alexis smiled wider. "Thanks for the tips."

"Exploiting my son's weak spots to you? The least I could do for those pictures."

"What pictures?" Rick walked up behind Alexis, pressing a kiss to his daughter's head before continuing his approach to the detective, eyebrows raised.

Before a guilty-looking Alexis could reply, Martha intervened. "Nothing, darling." She dismissed him easily, grabbing Jonah's arm and leading him towards the bathroom. "Let's get you washed up, kiddo."

"Girls versus boys, 's not fair!" Jonah grumbled over his shoulder. "There's more of you."

Rick eyed her carefully, but Kate gave her best poker face and the writer could do nothing more than pout at her. She gently swatted at him. "Your pout is as pitiful as my ten year old's." When Rick's face dropped even more, she couldn't hold back a laugh. "Don't worry, Castle. They saved the naked baby ones for when the book is released."

"_Naked?_" Rick tried cornering her into giving up more information, but Kate ducked out of his arms and skirted around the counter to where Alexis was watching, eyes sparkling.

"Come on, dad. You show her that video from my third birthday and you don't expect any retaliation?"

Rick turned his pout on his daughter. "That was _adorable_, though. You can't fault a dad-"

"Yes, I can." Alexis interrupted with a challenging eyebrow. "And nothing, I repeat, _nothing _about your own father parading you around the city in one of those backpack leashes and bribing you into pretending to be a puppy is adorable."

As they continued their playful arguing, Jonah returned from the master bath freshly washed up and in new clothes, Martha excused herself to some event in the city, and Kate barely had time to wonder when her son had begun leaving spare outfits at the loft before Alexis pulled her towards the table.

"We tried out this great new recipe!" Alexis told her excitedly, slapping at her dad's finger as it tried to dip into the gravy.

Kate smiled at the teenager before sitting. Rick and Jonah took the ends of the table, while Kate and Alexis held the center. "Well if it tastes half as good as it smells, I'm definitely leaving a happy customer."

Dinner _was _a hit, and Kate roped Rick into helping her with the dishes before settling down in the living room for a movie.

"What are we watching?" Jonah bounced on the end of the couch, nearly knocking into Castle, who was rounding the corner with a bowl of popcorn.

"Hey," Kate scolded lightly. "Watch it."

"Sorry, Rick." Jonah untucked his legs from under him and let his feet touch the ground. Rick spared a quick glance at Kate before dumping the entire bowl over Jonah's head.

"Castle!"

"Rick!"

"Dad!"

Jonah almost looked affronted for a moment before shrugging, grabbing a handful of popcorn that had landed near his leg and popping it into his mouth. "Couch popcorn still good."

"Ugh, chew first, then talk, dude." Kate pushed his shoulder gently, kicking Rick's leg at the same time. "And don't play with your food. I don't eat couch popcorn."

"Me neither." Alexis wrinkled her nose.

"Fine," Rick sighed heavily. "You guys are no fun. Jonah, pick the movie and I'll make our picky princesses more popcorn."

"Picky?" Alexis called out after him, shooting a disgusted look at Jonah as he tossed another handful into his mouth.

Flicking a kernel off her son's shoulder, Kate chimed in after the redhead. "_Princesses?_"

Jonah gathered as much popcorn that he could reach and dumped it into the abandoned bowl before hopping around the furniture to the stack of DVDs on an end table.

"How about this one?" he chirped, waving a case above his head.

Kate shook her head. "_Spy Kids_? Fat chance."

At the same time, Rick shouted from the kitchen, "Ooh, I love that one!"

XxXxXxX

_Spy Kids_ had long since ended, but Kate stayed tucked into Rick, his fingers gently brushing her arm.

Before, when he and Alexis had watched movies by themselves, they never had to pause because a little boy wanted to see how high he could-karate chop. Nor did they ever listen to someone _besides_ themselves argue about the logistics of the movie, or argue about why neither the ten year old nor the teenager couldn't get their own motor scooters. Alexis never fell asleep snuggled on someone else's shoulder, nor did anyone else take the care to make sure she was comfortably sleeping. Although solitary father-daughter time had become less frequent since the Becketts entered their lives, he didn't feel like he was missing out on anything. They had gained, it seemed, something else. Two stubborn, brunette, something elses.

"Where'd you get his name?" He whispered into her hair curiously, glancing over at the boy currently curled against her thigh, legs hanging across Alexis's lap. He would have to move her soon, he knew, or she'd be sore for hours. But, as much as he cared about his daughter's comfort, he couldn't bring himself to detangle from the woman in his arms.

Kate let out a small breath, turning her head to look at him teasingly. "You're the intuitive writer, you tell me."

"Well, the connection to your mother, that's obvious." When Kate nodded against him, a grin already forming, he continued. "And I would make a 'belly of a whale' joke, but I'm afraid you'd hit me."

"Right you are." Kate lightly elbowed him, running her fingers absently on the back of his hand. "When I was little, we had a lot of…traditions, I guess. Things we did on rainy days, things we did on sunny ones." She paused, the ache in her heart slightly dulled at the warm memories of her childhood. He pressed a kiss to her hair before she continued softly. "Malcolm, his middle name, came from a surrealist novel I read when I was younger. A sort of fairy tale I guess, about a boy who is taken in by all sorts of crazy characters." Kate smiled in remembrance, of the safety she felt, knowing the eclectic group that her child was going to be surrounded by. "And my mom, she sometimes read the Bible to me before bed. Probably because it usually knocked me out like a light." She shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. "We weren't very religious but I guess the story of Jonah stuck with me. He wasn't the best of people, but he was resilient, even when he was surrounded by darkness. It's stupid-"

"No, it's not." He looked at her warmly. "Better than my reasoning for Alexis."

She looked at him curiously, and before she could ask, he let out a rueful chuckle. "Before I changed my name from Rodgers, my middle name was Alexander. Mother apparently named me after her favorite aunt, and it was the one name I came up with that Meredith didn't hate." Rick paused to shudder before continuing. "She almost ended up a Coco."

At Kate's look, Rick nodded insistently. "I'm serious. It was like she was giving birth to a Yorkie. Meredith's list consisted of Coco, Gigi, Lola and Emma. I almost made myself go with the Jane Austen." At that, she laughed, and he squeezed her shoulder. "And with Harper, the literary names never run out."

"Obviously." Kate teased. Jonah shifted against her leg and she let out a sigh. "We should probably get going. We're supposed to look at more apartments tomorrow."

"Really?" Rick leaned back in surprise. "You didn't tell me that."

Kate tugged him back to her before shrugging. "You're not the only one with the internet, Castle."

He gave her a funny look before bracing his arms around her, leaning completely across her body until his arm could reach Alexis, gently tugging her arm until her neck assumed a more natural placement. He rolled across Kate again, her breath hitching as he brushed his lips across her forehead.

"Stay."

This time, Kate leaned back, looking critically at Rick whose eyes were stubbornly closed.

"I'm too tired to move." Rick protested, a smile curling on his lips as he shifted them into a more comfortable position.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't make a move away from him. "I'm sure you are."

When Martha tiptoed back in the late hours of the morning, she couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her. Quietly pulling out her phone, she snapped a quick shot-or at least hoped she did, she never quite figured out the device-and continued on her way up the stairs.

XxXxXxX

"Come on, we were supposed to be here like a half an hour ago." Jonah groaned, tucking his fingers in his mother's belt loops to pull her along a little faster as they shuffled tiredly down the hall. When no one answered the door, Kate began digging into her pocket for her phone.

Jonah rolled his eyes at her. "Don't bother." Digging into his own pocket, he produced a small silver key, easily sticking it into the lock and twisting. He turned the handle and opened the door, loudly announcing their presence before turning back to his mother. "And don't freak out."

When Kate just stood there, unable to tear her eyes from the silver key, Jonah tugged on her hand. "It's just a key, mom."

"He-he gave you a key?"

The ten year old raised his eyebrows. "He was gonna give you one too, but I figured you'd freak out. So I took one for the both of us. And see, you're freaking out."

"I am not freaking out."

"Are so." Jonah stifled a laugh. "That's the same face you made when we lost Shithead."

She snapped back to attention, glaring at him. "We didn't _lose_ Shithead."

"I think him hiding out in the roof for six hours means lost, mom. I saw the tears forming in your eyes."

Before she could argue any more. Alexis was on her way down the stairs. "How'd it go?"

"Another bust." Jonah sighed as he walked across the room and flopped into his favorite armchair.

Alexis made a sympathetic face. "Sorry."

Jonah shrugged, relieved to be off his feet. Grinning mischievously, the teenager sat down on top of him. His protesting swats at her soon escalated into a full-fledged tickling match that took them from the chair to the floor. Despite the loud, screeching laughter and pleading yelps from both sides, Kate leaned against the counter, half-amused and half-concerned they'd end up breaking something.

"Hey," Rick mumbled into her hair.

A bit startled, she jumped slightly before relaxing into his side. "Hey. Sneak."

Looking over into the living room, where his daughter and her son were laughing uncontrollably, he couldn't help but smile and bump her hip with his. "They're pretty awesome."

"Yeah." she agreed without hesitation, stifling a chuckle as Jonah managed to wiggle away long enough to get his hands on a throw pillow and chuck it at the teenager.

"Of course, that's no surprise. _We're_ awesome."

Kate rolled her eyes and bumped her hip back into his, feeling his hand slip into hers and tug slightly.

He waited until she looked at him to tug again, stepping away from the counter and pulling her down the hall and into his study. He led her around his desk to sit in his chair. "Look."

Kate leaned forward to inspect the webpage open on his screen. "What is this?"

"It's not the real thing, but it's close. Just look."

Scrolling with the mouse, she was given a 360 interior view of, for lack of a better term, apartment.

"Wow." Kate said softly. It had an open floor plan, with dividers that allowed for moderate privacy in any given area. A high, angular ceiling and large skylight gave the moderately sized room an air of grandeur, and the brick and panel walls gave the space warmth.

"Keep going."

There were four bedrooms, Kate immediately noticed, and she shot him a look.

"You could turn one into an office or something." Rick said quickly. "It already has a small one with it, but you could give that to Jonah, and turn the fourth into a spare bedroom."

"But four? In the city? This has to be way out of my price range, Castle."

He eyed her challengingly, before tapping the post-it note stuck to the bottom corner of the screen.

Kate leaned forward to make sure she was reading it correctly. "Really?"

Rick grinned, squeezing a hand on her shoulder. "The numbers don't lie."

"Wow, Castle, how did you even find this place? We've been searching for _weeks-_."

"I know people."

Kate sighed dramatically. "Okay, I'll bite. Where is it, what's the catch?"

That part he was nervous about telling her.

"Two floors down."

XxXxXxX

An argument, if you could even call it that, had ensued. Rick had been seemingly prepared for every single one of hers, which only seemed to annoy her. Irrationally, she knew. He was only trying to help, but her old, stubbornly independent habits refused to be ignored.

But it would only take five minutes longer to get to the precinct, he said. It was the same distance for Jonah to get to school. It was convenient for them to be in the same building if a case came up at an inconvenient hour, with Alexis and Martha just upstairs. The deposit was a little pricey, sure, but Rick was willing to give her the money, lend it to her even if she insisted on paying him back. He owed her for the months of following her around he already had under his belt.

"I'm just trying to make things easier on you."

Kate nodded in assent. She knew he was. Putting her hands on either side of his face, she dragged him down for a quick kiss before using his arms as leverage to pull herself up. "Come on, I think the pizza's here."

They didn't talk about the apartment for the rest of the night. Kate could feel his eyes on her, but she refused to give in or let any of her thoughts about the offer known to him.

"Okay, guys. Kiss and make up." Jonah stood up from the table, his brow wrinkled.

Kate tilted her head at him. Of course her ever-observant son had noticed things weren't as light as usual. "Make up for what, exactly?"

"You guys are," he waved his arms around helplessly, "Awkward. Don't like it"

"Nothing to make up for." Rick reassured him, ignoring the look his daughter sent his way. Their kids read them entirely too easily, he thought.

"Bull."

At Jonah's less-than-convinced outburst, Rick grasped Kate's forearm and dragged her towards him, planting a loud, sloppy kiss on her cheek before going in for the real thing.

Alexis wrinkled her nose after a few long moments. "Okay, enough guys. You're cool, we get it."

The younger boy, mostly convinced, sat down and tossed the last bit of crust into his mouth. "Gross."

Kate laughed into his lips as she pulled away. "Sorry, guys."

As they left the loft that night, Rick pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her closed lips before whispering against them. "Think about it, okay?"

She rested her forehead against his and nodded slowly. She really would, but not without talking to Jonah first.

XxXxXxX

The heavens opened on New York City that night, and lighting streaked across the sky, casting shadows across the Beckett apartment.

Jonah tiredly sat up in bed, having been unable to fall asleep since the first few rumbles sounded in the distance. He had tried it all. Counting sheep, which he thought was dumb anyways and wasn't too surprised when no amount of farm animals helped. Turning on the radio, which had crackled eerily and he'd shut it right back off. Even dragging out his favorite old stuffed animal, a worn stuffed dog, hadn't helped. Finally, he let his socked feet touch the floor and waited for the thunder to subside once more, before dashing out of his room and down the hallway, poking his head into his mother's room.

"Mama?"

No response. He leaned nervously against the wall, ready to take a step forward until a bright flash of lighting sent him back to gripping the doorframe

Then, the particularly loud crack of thunder that followed jolted Kate awake, and she was quickly aware of a familiar presence in her bedroom.

She patted the bed next to her, and Jonah didn't hesitate as he bounded across the room and launched himself onto the bed. Quickly burrowing himself into the covers next to her, he pressed his nose against hers.

"Hey, baby bear." she whispered, tugging his shivering body even closer.

"Hey, mama bear." he mimicked, tucking his feet under hers and pulling the covers over their heads, slightly dulling the sounds of the rain pounding on the windows.

Kate closed her eyes and yawned. "Dragons?"

She felt, rather than saw, his nod in response. A few moments later, another weight made its presence known at the foot of the bed.

"Him too?" Kate sleepily grinned as the cat curled up at their feet.

"Shithead doesn't like storms." Jonah whispered softly.

"That makes one of us," she teased gently, kissing his forehead before instructing him to close his eyes, keeping watch until his shaking subsided and his breaths evened out.

The next morning, the downpour had tapered off to a steady but light drizzle, casting a gray pallor over the city.

It was almost nine by the time the two Becketts had finished their French toast and pulled on their jackets, but the park was mostly empty. Only a few brave joggers and bikers braved the puddles, but they trudged on stubbornly. Kate found herself grateful for the red boots on her feet, and the purple ones on her son's as the water easily rose to their ankles. As they slid in the mud, close as they dared to the water's edge, Kate found herself

"Ready?"

"Ready." Jonah affirmed, crouching down with his backpack and unloading the small, folded paper boats. _Hope is, by definition, defiant,_ her dad used to tell her._ It's okay to be afraid in the dark, because you know the sun is always waiting to return._

At Jonah's insistence there were seven boats this time, instead of the usual four.

The released the first one, _Johanna_. Then the second, _James_.

The third and fourth, _Katherine_ and _Jonah_.

Then the last three, _Martha, Richard, Alexis._

Kate and Jonah watched until they slowly sunk, the biodegradable-by request of a three year old and very environmentally conscious Jonah-paper breaking up as they disappeared.

She helped him sling his bag back over his shoulders, tucking him under her arm as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They shuffled back onto the path, the mud on their boots quickly washing away in the water that sloshed over them.

"I think we should move there."

"Yeah?" Kate's steps slowed slightly as she turned to see his wind-reddened face.

Jonah bobbed his head, squeezing their cold fingers together. Kate let out a breath, tugging his hood down to kiss his damp hair before puling it back to cover his head.

"Okay."

XxXxXxX

**Ok, so, there won't be another six months in between, I promise. If there is, please write me strongly worded letters. Flaming bags of dog poo. Hitmen. Morgan, I'm looking at you.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Please, no one die of shock because I _do_ update sometimes. Yeah, I suck. But I'm heading to Youmacon in Detroit this morning (and by that I mean driving 15 minutes to the Ren Cen), and should get back just before Monday's con episode airs. Good timing. I have it. Or, at least Morgie thinks so. **

XxXxXxXxX

She might just be a little bit in love with him.

The realization hit her as she was sitting at his dining room table one evening, as he whipped something up in the kitchen that made Jonah bounce on his toes and Alexis eye the smoke alarm warily. It came without warning as she took a sip of water, and the glass shook in her hand, only managing to wobble onto the table as her chest tightened. _Oh, was she in trouble_. Martha was talking her ear off next to her and she fought to give her rapt attention, but when the older woman noticed her struggle to keep her eyes off her son, she patted her hand gently.

"Oh, darling."

Martha's knowing words pulled her from her daze, and Kate struggled to meet her boyfriend's-using that word pertaining to Castle still felt strange, but a good strange-mother's eyes. But she said nothing more, simply squeezed her fingers and raised her voice, offering to run lines with Alexis, who was all too happy to leave her father's side.

"How's rehearsals going?" Between work and Castle and Jonah, the detective hadn't had a lot of time with the teen, something she intended to remedy soon.

Alexis shrugged, politely spitting her gum into a tissue and shoving it into her pocket as she sat down. "The director is too busy trying to work out the little details when we _should _be trying to get the whole show pulled together. We only have a month and a half left and we're still in Act 1."

Martha nodded sympathetically, launching into a story about a director she'd worked with in the eighties who didn't even know there _was _a second act. Kate's wandering attention couldn't be held by Martha's eccentric past, however, and she found a memory pushing itself to the surface of where she'd safely tucked such memories away.

"_Hi, honey." Johanna Beckett breezed into the kitchen, placing a feather light kiss on her husband's cheek while their daughter worked on homework at the island counter._

"_Sweetheart." Jim Beckett returned, tilting her head up for a real kiss._

"_Ew, guys, really?" a younger Kate complained, wrinkling her nose from behind her flashcards._

_Johanna went in for another despite Kate's loud protests, and when they're done, Jim tosses a cherry tomato at her. "Shush, you."_

"_So, a snow day, huh?" Johanna teased. "I didn't know they still gave those out in high school. What have you been doing all day while I _slaved _over a case?"_

_Kate bit her lip to stop a smile from forming. "Finished my app for Stanford."_

"_Really?" Johanna raised an eyebrow, knowing her daughter had been nervously procrastinating with the final few pages for weeks now. "About time, Katie."_

_She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but I won't have a chance of getting in if I fail this class."_

_Johanna rolled her eyes back, knowing how much her daughter liked exaggerating her shortcomings. "Which one is it?"_

_Kate pursed her lips, flipping over a flashcard to show her the word "stratocracy" neatly penned, with the "c" crossed out and a "z" written in its place. _"_Mom, this is all gibberish to me."_

"_Let me see." Johanna moved to her daughter, wrapping an arm around her and resting her head on her shoulder to see what she was looking at._

_Kate tilted the book towards her with a frown. "I keep thinking stratosphere like sky and then I start thinking about warmer weather and where Maddie and I are going for spring break and-" she cut herself off with a sigh, glancing down at her notes with frustration._

_Her mother squeezed her tighter. "You know, I failed my first class on government."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yep." Johanna popped. "Blamed the teacher for giving sloppy notes, had to retake it in summer school my Junior year. The second time around I realized how hard I made it on myself, with all the pressure I put myself under__." _

_Ignoring her mother's pointed expression, Kate hid her face behind her hands. "Ugh, why is this so hard?"_

_"All good things are," Johanna teased. When she didn't get a reaction, she rubbed her daughter's shoulders comfortingly. "Don't worry so much about this. Stop studying, enjoy some time with your awesome, loving parents and sleep on it. I promise it'll make more sense in the morning." She pried the book from her daughter's grasp, neatly stacked the note cards on top and placed them all out of sight._

_The next evening, Kate proudly showed her mother the solid B she'd gotten on the test. "I'd hate to say it-" Johanna began._

"_But I told you so!" Jim and Kate both finished, exchanging eyerolls and grins. _

"_Exactly." Johanna kissed her daughter's temple. "You should listen to me more often."_

Something clattered in the kitchen, and while Alexis was still deeply engrossed in her grandmother's story, it pulled Kate back to reality. Two sets of mischievous eyes caught hers, and she couldn't help but grin back at them. Rick's eyes were warm as he observed her with the two other women in his life, only pulled away by the tug of her son on his arm. Who nailed him in the face with a glob of _something_. Jonah dodged the answering glob, skirting around the counter to the table and pressing himself between Martha and Kate.

"Your ass is bony." Kate complained as Jonah plopped himself on her lap.

He shrugged. "You made this as-_butt_, so whose fault is it?"

"Yours," she lightly pinched his thin arm, "For not eating more."

In truth, Jonah seemed to inherit that illusive gene that enabled him to shove whatever he pleased down his throat without gaining more than a few pounds. Kate envied him terribly, knowing that if she ever ended up on desk duty she'd most likely be popping buttons on her jeans before she knew it. Either way, the Castles had complained on multiple occasions about their slim frames and tried plying them with more ice cream, which they were only too happy to accept.

She nudged Alexis with the ball of her foot, grabbing the teenager's attention, "Hey, how about we turn the tables. Next dinner, you and I cook."

"Really?" Alexis's eyes sparkled with sudden excitement. Meredith had never been one to cook, and while her father was fun, sometimes his cooking experiments were just too much. But she knew that Kate was a great cook despite how infrequently she got to show it.

Kate shrugged with a grin. "Yeah. I'm sure we can whip something up."

Alexis nodded enthusiastically, as Rick swooped in, pressing a sloppy kiss to Alexis's and Jonah's. He then turned to Kate, ducking behind Jonah on her lap to press another, longer kiss to her lips.

"Ew, seriously dad?"

"_Mom_."

Kate laughed into his mouth. "I think our kids object to the PDA."

"Yeah, would bother me if I cared." he whispered back, pressing his lips to hers once more.

When he pulled back, they were met with the overly-disgusted looks of each of their children and the amused smile of his mother. He headed back to the kitchen with a grin, clearly not bothered by the show of disgust the two were putting on.

Jonah made a production of scowling, even as Kate's fingers danced on his sides and a laugh threatened to burst out from him. "I like that you guys are dating and all, but _gross_."

"Be silent, you two." Rick shot back, tossing an olive at them. Jonah easily caught the one aimed at him in his mouth, while Alexis let hers bounce off the back of her grandmother's head.

Kate burst out laughing, pressing her face into her son's shoulder blade as he managed to chew and maintain his confused expression. When she finally managed to catch her breath, Jonah shot a worried look at her. "You okay, mom?"

"Perfect." she kissed his cheek, squeezing him tighter.

XxXxXxXxX

"You're _what_?"

"And I'm not changing my mind." Kate told the medical examiner, whose jaw was hanging open slightly. "Jonah already decided."

"Honey, don't let the ten year old-"

"It's not _just_ him."

Lanie hummed skeptically, raising her eyebrows at her friend.

"It's not." Kate stubbornly tilted her jaw. "The ten year old does not run the house, I do. It's my decision."

Lanie stifled a laugh. "Whatever you say, honey. That boy started running your house the minute his wriggly butt was born."

The detective narrowed her eyes at her friend, but couldn't argue. "Well, it's still my decision."

"Yeah, yeah." Lanie shot a smirk towards her. "But you'd better get those boys to help you move because I am not screwing up this manicure for your crap."

Kate made a face as Lanie handed her the file she'd come down for, flipping through it once more for good measure. A victorious smile crossed her face, one that only came out when she knew they had the perp nailed. She felt that familiar gratefulness inside of her, for the man whose unorthodox way of seeing things managed to see what she and the boys, with all their training, could not. Justice for another broken family.

"Hey, don't forget you promised to watch Kohen and Camdyn the day after tomorrow! Ken called!"

"Yeah, yeah!" The detective called over her shoulder, the sound of her heels echoing through the hallway as she raced to get back to the bullpen with Lanie's findings.

The case wrapped neatly and the paperwork was left for the following day, giving her enough time to grab her son from school and ice cream from their favourite shop before meeting Rick to look at the new apartment. She dropped Jonah off upstairs, giving her pleasantries to Martha and Alexis, before heading downstairs.

"You sure about this?" he asked when the elevator was in motion, suddenly unsure about how he'd handled the situation. Sure, Jonah had said it would be okay, but trusting the ten year old who sometimes hopped around like Bugs Bunny with a mouthful of Pop Rocks didn't seem like such a good idea in hindsight.

"I'm sure." Kate interrupted his spiraling thoughts with a hand on his chest, although not completely silencing his brain.

He continued on nervously. "Because I know I kind of sprung this on you, I don't want you to feel like I'm press-" Before he could finish, her lips were on his. Caught off guard, he barely had time to slide his hand around her neck before she pulled back.

"You're not."

"I'm not?" he squeaked, as the elevator slowed.

"Nope." She popped. "We're good. I wanna do this."

Rick let out a breath. "Good."

"Well," Kate hesitated as the doors opened. "There is one thing I'm concerned about."

Pulling her to face him, he let his hands take residence on her waist and gave her a serious look. "Tell me."

Her smirk lightened him considerably, but not as much as her teasing words that followed. "Are they pet-friendly here?"

He pulled her to him and she laughed into his kiss, pulling them out of the elevator before someone saw. "I'm sure they'd make an exception for Shithead, detective."

The manager was already there waiting for them, and if he'd seen their brief display in the elevator, he didn't mention it. The place was perfect, like she'd expected. It was a smaller, more compact version of the Castle loft, but not without it's own charms. A bookcase built into a wall that wasn't pictured online caught Kate's eye, while several nooks and crannies designed for excess storage caught Rick's as great spots for lazer tag ambushes. The paint in several rooms was questionable, but the manager assured Kate that they would send someone before they moved in.

"It's perfect," she sighed for what must have been the hundredth time, leaning into the counter with a smile. "You did good, Castle."

"I did," he agreed, his eyes warm as he watched her untwist her hair from the quick braid she'd thrown together in her haste to get to the precinct that morning.

When she noticed his gaze was nowhere near the loft, she snapped the elastic at him rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't even think about it."

He widened his eyes innocently. "Think about what?"

She was onto him, and wrinkled her nose at him knowingly. "I haven't signed any papers yet, we can't christen a thing."

His smile turned almost dangerous, and her chest tightened as his eyes fixed on her left hand that was brushing through her tangled hair. "We can fix that, you know."

"Not those papers." she huffed, giving him the stink eye, choosing to ignore the implication of his words and focusing on the view from the living room. Not as good as Castle's, she could admit to herself, but pretty damn good.

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey, you boys up to helping a girl move?" Kate asked the boys the next day, cutting them off mid-argument about whose turn it was in their longstanding game of recycle bin basketball.

"You found a place?" Esposito leaned back in his chair. Ryan, not so easily distracted, swiped the crumpled paper and shot it at the bin, missing the makeshift hoop by a mile. "Cheaters never win." Esposito hissed at the scowling Irishman.

Ignoring their antics, Kate nodded. "Yep."

"Where?"

"Uhh…" she fiddled with the paperwork on her desk, straightening the edges and studiously avoiding Esposito's gut-spill-inducing interrogation look.

"Castle's building." Lanie tattled from behind her. Kate tried leveling her with a glare from over her shoulder, completely missing the look private look she and Esposito exchanged. "Oh you can't pull that on me, honey. You own up to it or I'll do it for you."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Why am I friends with you, again?"

Lanie smiled sweetly, opening Kate's desk drawer and swiping a few Skittles. "Because you'd be insane not to." Lanie popped a green one in her mouth before speaking again. "So, Kendra wanted me to make sure you were still okay with watching the kids tomorrow."

"Yeah, it's fine." Kate assured her. "Not that I don't love seeing you, but couldn't you have just called and asked that?"

Lanie made a face before shoving the rest of the candy in her mouth and chewed moodily. "Perlmutter's working a case, I needed some air."

A few sympathetic words later and Lanie was trudging back to the morgue, but not without another handful of candy and the promise of drinks later.

Kate turned back to see Esposito's expectant face, undeterred by the distraction that Lanie provided. "So. Castle's."

"Not _Castle's _Castle's, Espo." She clarified, rolling her eyes at the big brother mode the topic of _her and Castle _brought out in Ryan and Esposito.

The boys looked at each other, their earlier Recycle Ball argument all but forgotten as they spoke simultaneously.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"Yes or no?"

"How many boxes to you plan on moving?"

"Well, I _did _have plans that weekend."

Kate rolled her eyes at them. "I haven't even said when I'm moving."

At their continued silence, Kate rolled her eyes once more before delivering the decisive blow. "I pay in pizza and beer."

"Done."

"There."

Rolling her eyes for the third time, Kate tossed a pen at them. "Ugh, you guys are so predictable."

"Yeah?" Esposito shot back. "Why don't you get your other friends to help you move? Oh, maybe you don't have other friends because you throw shit at people."

Kate's hand darted towards the stapler, Esposito suddenly backtracking with niceties as Ryan made a trip to the vending machine for another pack of Skittles and a _sorry, boss_.

XxXxXxXxX

Rick, who had been stuck in meetings for most of the morning, materialized with stacks of takeout and caffeine by lunchtime.

As the detectives surrounding him devoured the contents of the Styrofoam containers, he turned towards one detective in particular. "So I was thinking. You have tomorrow afternoon off, right?"

She nodded around a mouthful of rice, following it with a long swig of water.

"Well, I kind of have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" Kate quirked an eyebrow at him. Oh, shit. _Tomorrow_. "About this surprise-"

He chuckled, as if he was anticipating it. "No, my dear detective, I will not tell you-"

"Castle, I can't." She interrupted, disappointment evident in her features.

"What, why? You said you have tomorrow off-"

"I promised Lanie I'd watch Kendra's kids for her. She has reservations at some new restaurant downtown."

Rick frowned, scrambling for a way to get her out of it. Then, it hit him. "Just leave them with Alexis!"

"Rehearsal." Kate said automatically. "Plus, watching Jonah is one thing. He's self-sufficient. But with Jonah, Kohen _and _Camdyn?" Rick pouted from his chair as Kate leaned forward to let her hand brush his. "Hey, we'll-"

An idea hit Rick like a freight train. "Wait," he turned to an oblivious Ryan at the desk behind him, chewing on a mouthful of chicken. "You and Jenny want kids someday, right?"

"Uh," he stuttered. "I mean, yeah, well, we haven't been dating that long it's not like we have n-named picked out bu-"

"Perfect." Rick interrupted with a grin. "We'll give you a test run. Say, tomorrow at four? Good."

"You are so wrong." Kate cackled as they left the 12th later that night. "Poor Ryan. Poor Jenny. She didn't even have a say in the matter." They had cleared the change of plans with Kendra, who had heard enough about Kevin Ryan from her sister and her friend to mumble a small sympathy under her breath. It didn't go unnoticed by his fellow detective, who said similarly wished him the best of luck even though he had already left the room to call Jenny.

"To be fair, neither did Detective Ryan."

Kate looped her arm through his and bumped into him. "So wrong."

"And yet, you're still with me."

She nearly snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. "Indeed I am. Maybe I should get Lanie to check my head."

The next afternoon, Kendra dropped the two children off at Rick's loft instead of Kate's apartment, and they all piled into Rick's SUV for the drive over to the Ryan/O'Malley residence.

"She's in a bit of a terrible two phase right now." Kate warned as Rick dropped three backpacks on the ground in their foyer. Camdyn was currently hugging herself to her knees, eyeing Jenny suspiciously from under a dark fringe of lashes.

"Oh, no worries." Jenny smiled confidently down at the toddler. "I watch my cousin's kids all the time. They're all just misunderstood little people." Kate shot Rick a skeptical look behind the sunny blonde's back as she tried to win Camdyn over, but the writer just shrugged. Kate gently pried the toddler from her legs, bending town and telling her to behave, before wrapping her in a hug. Rick swung Camdyn in the air after Kate released her, the pout threatening to form as they prepared to leave disappearing as she giggled.

As they walked to the door, Jonah's mischievous voice echoed from the dining room. "Hey Uncle Kevin, want to see me and Kohen's best friend handshake?" But the couple didn't slip out the door fast enough to miss the ominous-sounding crash and resounding shatter, followed by the two shouts of "Oops!"

"Bye!" Rick waved shortly at Jenny, dragging Kate behind him. As the door closed, Camdyn immediately turned to Jenny, grabbing her hand and leading her to the couch.

"I braid." Camdyn told her, gesturing for the blonde to sit down.

"Oh, honey," Jenny touched her recently styled tresses. "How about we-"

Camdyn looked up at her impatiently. "I braid."

Jenny sat down with a sigh, feeling the small girl get behind her and start to run chubby fingers through her hair.

XxXxXxXxX

"I thought you had a surprise for me?" He had pulled into the parking garage of his-soon to be _their_-building, expecting the confusion from the woman seated next to him.

"Do you trust me?" At her nod, he opened his door and skirted around to hers, pulling hers open as well. When she made no move to unbuckle herself, he did it for her and tugged her out and her feet wobbled onto the cement. "_Trust_." he repeated emphatically, threading his fingers through hers and leading her into the building. He nodded at the doorman, Claude, briefly asking the Frenchmen how his grandchildren were and accepting his challenge of a chess game later that week. His fingers still clutched hers tightly, as if he was afraid she'd bolt for the door at any given moment. She wished she could tell him he needn't worry, that her feet were glued to wherever he was, but she just squeezed his hand in return.

They made it to the loft and all the way into his study before he spoke again. "So you know how the other morning, I was in a meeting?"

She tilted her head, confused. "For the book, yeah."

"I never said it was for the book. You just assumed." Rick corrected, pulling a manila folder from his desk and handing it to her.

When she made no move to take it, he grabbed her free hand with his and turned it palm up, wrapping her fingers around it. She looked down at what she had in her grasp and back at him, slowly opening it.

She glanced down at the various papers, clearly confused. She looked back at him, his blue eyes unwavering from her face. "What is this?"

"Read it." He said softly, finally releasing her fingers and letting his run along her forearm, goosebumps already forming.

"'_The Johanna Beckett Scholarship Fund_'." she read slowly, the words thick on her tongue.

He smiled nervously at her, rocking on his heels. "I was going to tell you sooner, but I decided to wait until everything was finalized."

The full enormity of what he had done hit her, as she breathed out slowly. "Castle."

She went unheard as he continued his explanation in a rush. "It will provide a full-ride scholarship each year to a deserving law student. One that will use their career to defend those who would normally go forgotten or overlooked. Who would follow your mother's example."

"How…why-" He placed his hands over her shaking ones, steadying her as her eyes shimmered.

"Talked to some people at her old university. They were extremely supportive, made the whole process a breeze." When she didn't respond, he took his hands from atop hers and gently grasped her upper arms, running his thumbs along the muscles soothingly. "Is this okay?"

"No, Castle." As his expression began to fall, she shook her head, frustrated with herself. "No, that's not what I meant. I just-I'm kind of overwhelmed right now." She looked down at the papers in her hand, ran her thumb over the gold embossed name of her mother. "This is-" Her voice quivered as she spoke and she paused to compose herself as a single tear dropped, followed by another. Composing herself, she focused on the warmth of his hands on her arms, the amazing man who was looking like his entire world relied on her next breath. "This is _more _than okay."

Putting the folder down on his desk, she launched herself at him, his arms curling around her back as their lips met somewhere in the middle of it all. "Thank you," she whispered against him. This incredible, thoughtful person whose words had done more than he knew, would probably ever know, who wanted _her_. Who she wanted back. "Thank you so much."

He bumped her nose with his. "For you, anything."

She breathed out against him, her heartbeat rushing in her ears as his lips brushed against forehead. The folder all but forgotten on his desk, she let herself be pulled back into his bedroom.

XxXxXxXxX

What felt like ages later, she pressed her face into his neck and smiled, inhaling deeply. "We waited an awfully long time to do that."

He chuckled, running his hand along her bare hip, kissing the shell of her ear. "Was worth it, though."

Kate hummed in agreement as his fingers smoothed over the his new discovery. The cursive inked on her hip, gracefully looping across her side. He would never have seen it if he hadn't been looking for it, teasingly searching her body for the tattoo she'd claimed to have months before. He didn't even know it was there until he was looking straight at it, his lips against the bone. She was too sneaky, he complained, as he took in the white ink resting just along where her jeans would fit snugly. He had to admit that it was fitting, though. Shining against her tan, the words looked almost like a scar, like they'd always been etched into her skin.

_Veritas vos liberabit_

"You know, we'll have to go relieve Ryan and Jenny soon." She sighed into his skin, pressing her toes to his ankle, curling further into his side as his fingers pressed into her hips.

"Yeah, soon," he whispered back, glancing over at the clock before flippantly raising his voice. "We could give them another hour. Break 'em in a bit more."

As he rolled to pin her beneath him once more, she didn't have the desire to argue.

Two hours later, a positively _bouncing_ Richard Castle was knocking on Ryan and Jenny's door. As the door flung open, he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "So. How'd it go?"

The usually composed Kevin Ryan loomed in the doorway glaring, a smeared green clover inked on his cheek and what looked to be Cheez Whiz smeared on his white dress shirt. Jenny appeared behind him, with half of a comb stuck in a gnarled blonde knot and matching Cheez Whiz smears.

Jenny blinked at Kate, clearly exhausted. "Camdyn can't braid, can she?"

Kate shook her head gravely, sympathetically. "No, she can not."

The blonde sighed, gingerly touching her head. "Well, I needed a haircut anyways." When she noticed her fiancé still glaring, not moving to allow them in, Jenny slapped his chest and pushed past him to open the door wider. "Please, come in."

Stepping through the doorway, Kate immediately saw the two boys asleep on the couch, but the toddler was nowhere in sight. "Where's Cam?"

Looking around wildly, Ryan frowned. "She was right behind me when I walked to the door. Jenny, you see her?"

Jenny shrugged, huffing a piece of hair out of her face as she worked on untangling the leftover comb. "She couldn't have gone far, she was half asleep."

While Rick worked on waking the boys up and gathering the bags together, Kate tiptoed down the hallway, pretending not to see the cheesy fingerprints on the white paint. "Cammy-Doo, where are you?" she called out softly, knowing that she was probably asleep and trying not to startle her. She looked at the various doors, trying to think like the sleepy toddler. Opening the narrow one near to the open bathroom door, she was greeted with a picture-worthy sight. She silently called Jenny over, who peeked into her linen closet to see the tiny girl curled up on the shelf lowest to the floor, sandwiched between clean sheets. Her chest rose and fell steadily, her chubby thumb in her mouth and shiny with drool.

"She's so cute when she's sleeping." Jenny sighed wistfully, finally tugging the comb free.

Kate stifled a laugh as she knelt down, carefully maneuvering Camdyn into her arms. "Aren't they all?"

XxXxXxXxX

**I think this is where I use emotional blackmail to get more reviews. Eh, I'll just be very Canadian and sit politely.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: The world may actually be ending. Twice in one week? **

XxXxXxXxX

"I come bearing Chinese takeout!" Rick bellowed into the Beckett apartment, but a quick survey showed that not a single Beckett was in sight. "Beckett? J-Meister?"

Jonah's head popped up from behind the couch, a piece of paper stuck to his cheek as his bleary eyes focused on the older man. "Rick?"

"Hey, buddy. Fall asleep on your homework?"

School was already out, but the youngest Beckett had opted to take an advanced class during the regular year, causing him to miss the art class provided by the school. He was making it up in a four week online course that met twice each week, and if the writer remembered correctly this morning was the first.

The boy shrugged, sniffing the air. "Is that Chinese?"

Rick grinned proudly, setting down the bags full of takeout on the counter. "Where's your mom?"

"Um," Jonah peeled himself from the couch, still sluggish in the warm apartment. Rick could hear the buzzing of several fans and noticed most of the windows were open, and he cursed their superintendent for not turning the AC in this heat. "Somewhere back there." He gestured towards the hallway. "We started packing and now she's stress cleaning."

He curiously glanced down towards the back of the apartment. "Stress cleaning?" But Jonah ignored him, sliding into a chair and digging into the first bag.

"Nope!" The writer scooped the bags up, dangling them above the protesting ten year old's head. "Stress cleaning?"

Pouting, Jonah rested his chin in his cupped palm. "Think it finally hit her how much shit we have." At Rick's disapproving look, he sighed and corrected himself. "Stuff." Rick nodded for him to continue and he shrugged. "She goes into full-on zombie mode. Won't leave the room until she can see herself in the walls."

"But you can't-"

"Try telling my zombie mom that." Jonah rolled his eyes, pouting slightly as he inhaled the delicious scents coming from the bags Rick still held in the air. "Can I have an egg roll now?"

Rick dropped the bag back onto the table, wiping his hands on his jeans as he prepared to go drag his girlfriend from whatever fiery pits of bleach-filled hell she'd immersed herself in.

From around a mouthful, Jonah saluted him. "Best of luck!"

A few moments later, Rick leaned against the frame of Kate's bedroom door. A quick survey found her nowhere in sight, until his eyes caught the sight of her toes wiggling from under the bed. "Hey," When he didn't receive an answer, he bent down next to the bed and wrapped his hands around her ankles. He gently but swiftly pulled her, along with a broom, from underneath.

"Hey!" she shrieked, swatting at him. "Do you know how many dust bunnies are under here? It's disgusting." As she tried wiggling away, Rick scooped her up easily and deposited her on the bed.

"Dozens, I'm sure."

She immediately hopped off, leveling him with a glare. "Castle! I'm all dusty and I _just_ washed the bedspread!"

He looked at her with mirth. "Wow, Jonah wasn't kidding."

Her eyes widened. "Jonah! Shit, what time is it?" She looked frantically at her wrist before realizing she'd removed the watch when she had been cleaning out the tub.

Rick chuckled. "Almost two."

She rubbed a hand across her forehead, realizing that Jonah probably hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning, which was only a bagel as they rushed to get him to his art class on time. "What kind of mom forgets to feed her kid?"

"The kind of mom who has a _wonderful _boyfriend who remembers to feed both his girlfriend and her son?"

Kate pursed her lips together as she redid her sweaty ponytail. "You did?"

"Mhmm." He nodded proudly, grabbing a fistful of the waistband of her shorts and pulled her towards him. She scrunched her nose as she got close, sniffing herself with a frown and digging her heels into the floor.

"I should shower, I'm all sweaty."

"Don't care." He continued pulling her, ignoring her slight resistance. "I could help you with that, though."

"Wouldn't want to give Jonah nightmares." She looped her arms around his neck and their lips brushed together. "You know, you're kind of wonderful."

"I know, don't you listen to me?"

Her arm dropped down his back and she deftly pinched a butt cheek, giving him an evil smirk.

"Ow, woman!" Jumping back with a mock scowl. "I bring over the best Chinese in town and this is the thanks I get?"

"Chinese?" Her eyes lit up. How did he always know what she was in the mood for?

Rick stepped back into her space, crowding her against the bed. "Probably none left, someone was demolishing the egg rolls last I saw. Although he might be asleep in them, he was pretty dead on his feet."

She sighed into him, the small circles he was rubbing on her back threatening to do the same to her. "Was supposed to help with his art project." She mumbled into his chest.

His hand paused on her back, causing her to protest lightly. Lips brushing her ear, he moved his hand lower as she squirmed against him. "Now cleaning, I don't do. But I know a thing or two about art projects."

"Really?" she breathes skeptically, silently wondering how he could make _art projects _sound sexy,

"Really. So, dinner tonight?" He asked, knowing that she'd taken several days off in order to dedicated herself to the process of packing and moving. The new apartment wouldn't be ready to move into until the end of June, but she had decided that they'd accumulated enough stuff to warrant several weeks worth of packing. Once she was finished he, along with Ryan and Esposito, would swoop in and make the move as quick and painless as possible.

She rocked back on her heels with a sigh, bringing his attention back to her as her toes landed on top of his. "Can't, on call. I don't want to start this with Alexis and have to leave halfway through." He hummed is assent, although slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be spending the evening with her.

As an afterthought, she frowned. "Besides, Jonah's closet needs a good cleaning."

He huffed a laugh into her hair as she wiggled her bare toes on top of his socks. The angle was a bit off, her toes just perched on the edge of the cotton, but she tipped her head up anyways. Her lips easily found his and she pulled his lower lip between hers for a tease before releasing it. He groaned into her mouth. "You evil woman."

"Oh, you haven't even begun to see evil yet."

"Hey, Rick? If mom hasn't eaten your brains yet, could you maybe order some more egg rolls?"

Deftly ignoring the boy's shout, Rick dipped his head for more. "Miss you tonight."

"Yeah?" She murmured into him, biting her lip with a smile. Before he could reply, however, the insistent voice continued.

"Guys! Egg rolls!"

"Yeah, bud. I'll get right on that!" He called out in response. In a lower voice, he whispered "After I'm done defiling your mother."

Kate smacked him lightly on the chest. "Don't you dare scar my kid for life."

With an eyebrow wiggle and another quick kiss, Rick pulled out his phone.

XxXxXxXxX

"While you're here," Kate casually began, after the food was eaten and the leftovers put away. She was on the living room floor, carefully packing all of the breakables away. "Could you do me a favor?"

Rick rubbed his hands on his jeans, bending down to where she was. "Sure, anything."

She tossed him the roll of bubble wrap that was sitting next to her. "Go pack the picture on Jonah's wall."

Hysterical laughter broke across the relative silence, and Kate shot a glare at her son. He quieted some, but not without an amused smirk before he turned back to his task of pulling books from the shelves.

"Oh, is it too high? You think you could reach them in those heels of yours."

The boy snorted and Kate shot another glare at him, even though his shaking shoulders were now turned away from her.

"No," Kate hedged as she stood, and if he wasn't mistaken, slightly blushing and still glaring at her son.

Before he could even begin as inquisition, Jonah sold her out with a grin over his shoulder. "Mom's _afraid _of it."

"You-_afraid_? Of a picture?" His eyes widened comically.

She crossed her arms defensively as Jonah darted across the room to stand beside her. She reached down to pinch his side as she spoke. "Not just any picture!"

"Enlighten me." He crossed his arms right back at her.

"It's pretty freaking creepy, Castle, and that's all you need to know."

Jonah beamed up at him, grabbing his forearm and leading him into the hallway. "You gotta see it! It's _so _awesome."

As the writer's resounding laughter carried down from her son's room, Kate frowned and settled down into the armchair. "He _would _find it funny," She grumbled, remembering with a shudder the three grumpy cat heads floating in the night sky, staring across the starry distance at the moon that bore the same sorrowful expression. It skeeved her out and she refused to let Castle's obvious amusement get to her.

Shithead, popping up and out from inside one of the open cardboard boxes, ambled over and jumped next to her. The cat head butted her shoulder gently, and Kate leaned over to scratch the attention-seeker behind his flickering ears. "_You're _the only grumpy cat for me."

XxXxXxXxX

The next day passed rather uneventfully. The 12th was the latest victim of a mandatory sexual harassment seminar. Castle wisely chose to stay away, knowing that the ever-observant Ryan and Esposito would have a lot to say at his, and probably Beckett's, expense. Ryan still hadn't quite forgiven him for the babysitting fiasco, although Kate had reported back to say that the absence _definitely_ made Jenny's heart grow fonder for Camdyn, despite her new short 'do. Jonah was spending the day at a friend's, whose mother was taking them both to junior krav maga before dropping him at the Castle loft where they would be having dinner.

Either way, he took the morning to sleep in, the last few nights of endless writing catching up to him. That is, until Alexis decided to intervene in her usual chirpy manner. "Dad, wake up!"

Rick opened one eye, the blurry outline of a redhead swimming into vision. "Nuh uh, s'early."

"So? We have to go to the store! Kate gave me a list."

He shook his head in his pillow. "Didn't mention it."

"Dad," He could practically feel Alexis rolling her eyes. He'd have to talk to Beckett about her influence on his daughter. At least, the parts that boded less well for him. "That's because she gave it to _me_."

"Don't make me get the water gun." The teenager threatened, standing up from the foot of the bed as menacingly as she could. She was slightly affronted that she herself hadn't thought of the water gun wake-up, but she was just as happy when Jonah gave her one of his 'in case of emergencies'. And her sleepy, grumpy bear father was definitely an emergency.

In a flash, Rick was sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Finally getting a good look at his daughter, he wiggled his eyebrows. "Aren't you bright eyed and bushy tailed."

Alexis was already dressed, save for the absence of shoes on her feet. Her hair was pulled into a simple side braid, and her eyes glimmered with excitement.

He gentled his voice. "This is really important to you, isn't it."

Alexis shrugged, embarrassed. "I know that you and I cook all the time, but with Kate it's-"

"Different." He finished. Alexis nodded. "Yeah, seems to be a theme."

His daughter turned to look at the wall. "I just-mom never did stuff like this. Cooked with me, gave girly advice about actual stuff going on in my life, _cared _enough to even try." Reflexively, he started to apologize. For his poor choice in mothers for his daughter, for how many times she'd been let down. "Don't apologize, dad. I had you. And I know I don't say it enough, but you're the best dad I could've asked for."

"I love Kate." she said quietly. "And Jonah. I mean, he can kind of be a pain sometimes but in a good way, you know? Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay." He reassured. "I love them both too." Realizing what he'd just let slip, his eyes darted to his daughter, who merely smiled serenely.

"It's okay, dad." Alexis patted his hand, eyes sparkling. "I think they love us, too."

XxXxXxXxX

"Anything you'd like to tell me?" Paula snarled into the phone, as he waved Alexis to head up to the loft with the few bags she was carrying.

Castle sat back behind the wheel, already annoyed with her. "No, not really. Why?"

"Because you've been spotted with that detective and her son six times in the last month looking awfully close."

Slowly, as if speaking to a child, he replied, "That's because we _are_."

Paula's voice turned sharp, and even through the phone he could tell she was annoyed. "Well, people are starting to ask questions."

"What I do in my free time is none of anyone's concern but my own."

"That's not what Black Pawn thinks."

"Black Pawn can go to hell." He could almost feel Paula's jaw drop as she screeched his name, but he continued without pause. "I'm a popular, successful writer. I don't need them."

"Now, now," Paula backtracked. "Don't go talking crazy. Think of the great publicity this could bring. Richard Castle and his muse find romance-"

He interrupted her firmly. "No."

"But-"

"_No_. They are not tools that you can use create more sales." His temper was flaring now, brought back to when Jonah turned on a dime at his mother in the paper. Kate's distress. Her desire to remain professional in the workplace, which would be made impossible if word got out that they were more than just _writer_ and _muse_.

"Just an announcement," Paula wheedled. "No pictures, just a press release affirming your status as a-whatever you are."

"Couple." He paused. Deciding quickly, he continued. "I'm serious about her, Paula. Which means I'm serious about protecting her privacy. She's not just some arm candy that can be flaunted around in the paper."

"She wouldn't be, as you say it, _flaunted_-"

"The answer is still no, Paula. And if you can't respect that, I might have to reconsider my affiliation with-."

"Alright, no press release." Paula conceded, clearly disappointed. Satisfied that he'd gotten his point across, he pressed end and gathered up the rest of the bags.

XxXxXxXxX

"I can't believe you guys are gonna be so close." Alexis bounced on the couch next to Kate. Dinner was in the oven and the two males had vacated until it was ready, leaving the two girls with the run of the loft.

Kate laughed lightly as the couch settled, a wry smile twisting on her face. "Oh, me neither."

A shadow of doubt crossed Alexis's expression as she nervously picked at her sweater. "You're happy, right?"

"Oh, sweetie, of course I'm happy." Kate reassured, pulling Alexis down to plant a kiss on her forehead. "But I think it just hit me yesterday how much crap I'm going to have to move."

Alexis laughed, scrunching her face. "I'm glad we've lived here so long. I can't imagine packing all my stuff away."

A mischievous grin curled across Kate's lips. "Me neither. That's why I have your dad."

"He doesn't clean very well." Alexis warned her, sinking further into the couch.

Kate threw her head back and laughed. "He doesn't need to worry about that."

The younger girl grinned back, tucking her toes under Kate's thighs. "I like this."

"Like what?"

Alexis shrugged shyly, like she just realized she spoke aloud. "Just, hanging out, you know?"

Smiling warmly and running a hand down the redhead's arm, Kate nodded. "I know." And Kate knew exactly what it was like to not have a mother. Sure, Johanna Beckett physically _couldn't_ be there while Meredith just _wouldn't_ be there with all of her so-called excuses. Kate had and still desperately missed those times she had and could've had with her mother. Although it wasn't the same, she was glad she could provide Alexis with some form of substitution.

"So have you heard from Maxie lately?" Kate suddenly asked, fondly thinking of her son's pixie-like former babysitter, who was still interning downtown.

Nodding gravely, Alexis worked to keep a straight face as she told her of all the misfortunes Maxie informed her of the last time they spoke.

Meanwhile, Rick and Jonah were back at the store, this time stocking up on the _essentials_. Which, of course, included copious amounts of foods that were most definitely unhealthy.

"Pop-Tarts?" Rick queried, pointing out the expanse of blue boxes in the aisle.

Jonah shook his head quickly, panicked. "Nuh uh, strawberry flavored _death_."

"I'm...not even going to ask."

The boy nodded sagely, telling Rick that it was better he not know. They finally checked out, stacking piles of sugary snacks on the conveyor as the cashier scanned their items.

"You think they'll be mad?" Jonah asked a few minutes later, swinging a grocery bag on each arm as they headed to the car.

"Who, the girls?" At Jonah's nod, he chuckled. He'd tried early today with Alexis, but her watchful eye prevented him sneaking anything besides the listed items into the cart. "Please. Our girls are sugar freaks."

"_Our _girls?"

Rick stuttered. Damn, the kid was observant. "Uh, well, I mean-"

Jonah rolled his eyes, looking incredibly like his mother. It no longer surprised Rick to see the resemblance, but the constant reassurance that was there made something squeeze with affection for them both. "I was kidding, but now you're embarrassing."

"Oh, not you too."

"Not bad embarrassing." Jonah reassured, which wiped the exaggeratedly disappointed expression from the writer's face.

Rick smiled down at the boy, who was making it a mission to hop over every crack with his sandaled feet. "Good."

They walked in a comfortable silence for a few moments more, only the slapping on Jonah's feet hitting the cement and the sounds of the city providing a soundtrack.

"Race ya!" Jonah shouted as soon as the car was in sight.

"Hey," Rick protested, even as the boy darted in front of him, still avoiding cracks. "That's so not fair!"

Later that night, after Kate and Alexis proudly served dinner and Rick and Jonah proudly demolished a good chunk of their sugar stash, Rick told her of his earlier conversation with Paula.

"It can't happen." She sounded panicky and unsure, fidgeting with her hands as she turned away from him.

"And it won't." He reassured her, grasping her hips and pulling her back. "I made sure of it."

She shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. "Still, the risk that it might one day, you can't promise-"

"I can and I will. I promise to do everything in my power to keep _us _between us."

"Castle, I can't do this. I'm not made for this." She ran her fingers through her hair and tugged on the strands as they wound around them.

"Hey," Reaching for her hand, he untangled it from her hair slid his fingers between hers, "I'm not asking you to. I don't ever want you to do anything you'd feel uncomfortable with, and I mean it." He used their joined hands to drag her closer, pulling her to stand between his legs. "Okay?"

She nodded slowly, her hands coming from her sides to land on his shoulders, and her fingers gently dug into the muscle. Trying valiantly to lighten the mood, he brushed a kiss to the back of her hand. "Dinner was amazing. You and Alexis should cook more often."

She hummed at him as his hands dropped to her waist, his finger dipping just below the waistband to brush the light ink he now knew was there.

"_How _amazing?"

His hands teasingly wiggled across her hips as she squirmed in protest. "You know you're an amazing cook, quit fishing for compliments." Kate ducked her head shyly and his fingers dragged her in. When she still refused to meet his eyes, he let his hands run from her hips to the small of her back, rubbing slow circles. When his enticement _still_ failed, he pulled her even closer.

"Hey. What?"

"Nothing, it's just-" She shook her head at herself, touching her chin to the hollow of her throat.

Trying not to pressure her into talking while still urging her gently, he rubbed his thumbs along her skin. Goosebumps erupted in their wake, and he smoothed over them softly. "Tell me."

Finally, She smiled warmly at him, bringing her hands up to cup his cheeks and her pinkies resting along his jawbone. "Thank you."

Genuinely confused, he squeezed her hips. "What for?"

"For…everything." She shrugged, dipping her head down again. "Putting up with me, I guess? I know I'm not the easiest-"

"Stop." He ordered her, a smile playing on his lips as he slowly looked her over. She shifted nervously in front of him, under his gaze, under the careful way that he was watching her. "You beautiful, clueless woman."

She opened her mouth but before any more words escape, he pressed his lips firmly to hers, raising his hands so his thumbs brushed her cheeks while the rest cradled her neck. "This-what we have," He murmured lowly, his lips coming to brush against hers once more. "Is anything but a chore."

She sighed into him, her lashes fluttering against him, her warm breath stuttering against his cheek. As she slowly allowed herself to be pulled into his lap, his heart squeezed with something painful. _How could she not know?_

But no more words were exchanged, just the sounds of their breathing as they rested against each other.

XxXxXxXxX

**Three Grumpy Cats Moon picture is a real thing. And it's fabulous. hopeameliayolo dot tumblr dot com /post/35154521102  
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	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I got a few PMs about this chapter not showing up for people, hopefully this fixes whatever issues are being had!**

XxXxXxXxX

"Hi, Mrs. Hurst." Kate called out, looking around for the older woman as Jonah closed the door behind her. Their neighbor had been feeling under the weather, so Kate had prepared chicken soup to bring over before they headed to the Castle loft. Jonah clutched a box of saltines and looked far less anxious than usual, now that she no longer forced I Love Lucy marathons on him.

"Mrs. Hurst?" Kate called out again, louder this time, pausing and waiting for a response. Jonah sucked on his lower lip and leaned into her side. None of the lights were on, and an eerily feeling crept over Kate as she handed him the soup and ordered him to stay put near the door.

"You think she's okay?"

Kate nodded, even though he could tell by her face that she was worried. She walked slowly through the apartment, completely on guard. The radio was playing an oldies station, the static buzz the only other noise besides her own light footsteps. She peeked into the woman's room, and the bed was neatly made. Two quilts were folded on the bed, the only disturbance being her usually immaculately empty trashcan filled with tissues.

She closed the door behind her and turned towards the next, the bathroom. After flipping on the lights, she dropped to her knees. "Oh, Mrs. Hurst."

The older woman's eyes were closed as she laid on the floor in front of the sink, still in her bathrobe. She felt for a pulse, which to her relief, throbbed steadily under her fingers. Checking her watch, she saw that it was well past five in the evening, and Mrs. Hurst was never caught in her pajamas past seven in the morning. She must have fallen soon after waking up, Kate realized anxiously.

Pulling her phone from her pocket, she dialed 911 and spoke as calmly as she could, breathing a small sigh of relief once she knew an ambulance was on the way. Mrs. Hurst slowly began to stir, and she gently rubbed the woman's shoulder before peeking out into the hall. Jonah stood obediently at the end, having set the soup on the table in order to hop from one foot to the other nervously.

She whistled to grab his attention, his head snapping towards her as the loud noise echoed through the apartment. "Jonah, baby, I need you to go wait outside for the ambulance. Make sure they know how to get up here."

Jonah nodded meekly, opening the door and glancing back worriedly into the old woman's apartment before dashing down to the elevators, punching the button with his thumb before changing his mind and taking the stairs.

XxXxXxXxX

Kate and Jonah were over an hour late for their movie night, and Rick paced anxiously until her name showed up on his caller ID. He answered the phone after only one ring. "Beckett, where are you? I thought we had plans."

"I'm at the hospital." Kate sighed, sitting down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs as Jonah's feet tapped a rhythm on the floor.

His voice immediately turned panicked. He'd only left her at the precinct a few hours before, what could have happened between now and then? "Hospital?! Are you okay?"

Realizing how she must have sounded to him, she placated. "No, no. Not me. Or Jonah. Mrs. Hurst."

He hummed in recognition. "What happened to her?"

"I'm not sure. We went to bring her dinner before heading over to your place and I found her on the bathroom floor."

"Jesus. Do you want me to come down there?"

Kate shook her head, even though he couldn't see her. "No, it's fine."

"Beckett. I'm on my way." He told her sternly, ignoring her slight protest as she heard him pick up his keys through the phone.

"What about Alexis?"

"Tech Week. She's spending the night at a friend's."

She sighed, although slightly happy that he wasn't going to let her wait alone. "Castle, that is totally unnecessary."

He was there within fifteen minutes, immediately wrapping her in a hug. "Thank you." She mumbled into his shirt, her fingers grasping the soft material that stretched across his back.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" He whispers into her hair. "Anything."

Jonah waved and the writer took the corner seat next to him. He stretched his arm out to go across Jonah's back all the way to Kate, brushing her shoulder with the tips of his fingers. She smiled gratefully, her son's fingers lacing through her own as he leaned against Rick's shoulder. They waited for a few more minutes, with Kate looking anxiously down the hallway she knew the doctor would likely appear. And one did, finally. The trio stood together as he approached.

She put on the strongest voice she could as she stepped in front. "How is she?"

"Fine." The doctor told them, and Kate let out a sigh of relief. "I am recommending the use of a walker, however. Is there any next of kin that could check up on her from time to time?"

Kate sighed. "Gary, her son, lives in Saskatchewan. And her daughter lives in LA. They rarely make it back here."

Jonah, lifting his head from behind her, spoke up. "We'll do it. Right, mom?"

She smiled warmly at her son, who darted over from next to Rick and ducked his head under her arm. She wrapped him up tightly, kissing his head before looking back up to the doctor. "Right. We'll do it, it's no problem."

The doctor looked at them for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I see no reason to keep her here overnight, and discharge papers will be ready shortly."

XxXxXxXxX

"I'm starving." Jonah sighed, turning to Rick after they settled Mrs. Hurst back into her apartment. "Come up for dinner?"

He glanced over at Kate, who had her back turned as she locked the door behind her. "If it's okay with your mom."

Jonah rolled his eyes, grabbing Rick's wrist and tugging him further down the hallway. "Let's go."

Kate didn't ask any questions when Rick joined them in the elevator up, letting her hand drop the run through Jonah's hair as he hopped back and forth.

"Mom," Jonah grabbed her hand, turning into her so her arm wrapped around him. "What will Mrs. Hurst do when we're gone?"

"We won't be _gone _gone." Kate said firmly. "We'll still visit. Every day, if we can."

Jonah nodded contently, "She's kind of grumpy but I don't want her to be lonely."

"She won't." Kate assured him.

"And hey, if you guys can't make it, how about Alexis and I pop over to give her some company?"

The boy turned to beam at Rick, his green eyes seeming huge on his eager face. "You mean it?"

"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't." He was pushed back by the momentum of Jonah throwing his arms around him tightly. He had to strain to hear the boy's muffled words as he spoke directly into the fabric of his shirt.

"You're _awesome_."

And from the way Kate was looking at him from the other side of her son, it seemed like she agreed.

XxXxXxXxX

"I'm too tired to cook anything." Kate sighed as she walked through her door.

Rick already had his phone to his ear and he waggled his eyebrows. "Pizza it is."

While Kate went in search of paper plates, because dishes were _so _not in her plans for tonight either, Rick decided to poke around the half packed living room.

There, in the corner, he spotted it. All of Kate's books were stacked together, ready to be packed away for Ryan and Esposito to sweat over in a few weeks' time. And at the top of one pile he found the familiar binding, his name against the side. He'd never seen her copies before, and he assumed she'd hidden them away when he'd become a more permanent fixture in her life. But here they were, _Kate's _copies of _his _books, and he itched to inspect them.

Quickly checking to make sure she was nowhere in sight, Rick flipped open to the first novel he could reach, his second. It was a worn copy, one from the first print, he noted proudly. As much as he teased her, he was honestly flattered that she'd even appreciated his early work. He stopped at the inside cover, the words catching his eye immediately. His heart constricted as he recognized his own handwriting, skimming it briefly before darting to the opposite page where Kate's own neat script laid. He read her words slowly, his heart feeling constricted inside his chest.

_I love you, Mom. I know I forget to tell you that a lot more than I really should, but I do. I wish I could change the way I've been these last few years, I know I was hell. I'm going to be better though, so much better. I want to make you proud. XO, your Katie._

Kate chose that moment to appear with a stack of plates, slowing to a stop as she spotted what he'd found.

He was almost breathless as he looked up at her. "I met your mother?"

She sat the plates down on the counter. She'd known the book was out for the past few, and had honestly expected him to find it sooner. Pushing aside the small amount of anxiety she felt, she slowly made her way over to him. "No, you met _me_."

His head jerked up, startled. He'd met her before and he didn't remember?

She tapped the opposite page and he read it slowly, words he'd written but didn't remember.

_For Johanna. You've raised a lovely daughter, so I can only imagine how wonderful you must be. _

Underneath it, his name, penned with a careful flourish that he'd dropped over the years and years of signings.

"I was getting it for my mother, though. She had your first and read it cover to cover more times than I could count. And this one had just been released, but she was so busy with work she never had time to grab it. I was home from Stanford on Christmas break and I saw the sign out that you'd be at this bookstore. So, I waited in line for like an hour. You were flirting with every girl in the place, of course." She didn't sound mad, rather her eyes glinted with amusement as she sat across from him on the floor. He made a face anyways, remembering how schmoozy he'd acted for so many years. Still acted, sometimes.

"But you asked me my name and I told you to make it out to Johanna. And I took it home and wrapped it right away because mom was a snoop and she'd find it within minutes if I left it out. She opened it on Christmas morning and her face just lit up." She remembered fondly, curling her fingers around his after he reached out to grasp her hand tightly. "She meant to read it I think, always tucked it away in her briefcase or next to the bed. But, ah, she just got so caught up in her work, you know? She just cared about it so much, put so much overtime into it and threw herself in it headfirst."

"Like someone else I know." Rick quietly said, without accusation as he rubbed his thumb along her knuckles.

Yeah," she briefly laughed before turning fiercely serious. "It's what got her _killed_, Castle. She put her heart and soul into it…I guess we do have that in common." Kate inhaled deeply and shrugged, letting the rhythmic motions of his thumb give her the power to continue telling him. She _needed _to tell him. She wanted to let him in, and she'd be damned if she chickened out now. She began again, quieter. "I don't talk about it much but it almost destroyed me. I was drowning in my quest for justice and didn't even realize it until I was dragged up for air."

He let his other hand brush against her cheek and she leaned into his palm, shaking the memories away before continuing lowly. "So, ah, it was a few weeks after she died and I was really missing her. My dad was off on a bender and it was just me in the house and it was Valentine's Day. It was her favorite holiday. She'd always bake a red velvet cake the night before and we'd eat it for breakfast." Kate smiled, remembering fondly how ostentatious her mother had been.

The red blazer and skirt that her mother proudly wore year after year, a tiny heart pin Kate had made in the 2nd grade resting on the lapel. How embarrassed she'd felt when she gave loud, wet kisses before Kate could sneak out of the car, even in front of her waiting friends. The _horror_ she'd felt when, each year, a voice on the radio announced a cheesy love song that had been requested for Katie Beckett, with love from her mama. The PDA her parents shared in the kitchen that made her cringe. Heart-shaped pizza and strawberry ice cream. Making her dance with them before she went to bed and loudly singing _Wind Beneath My Wings_.

She pushed the memories back so she could finish. "I bought some cake mix and I burnt it, and I bought one and it didn't taste the same and I was just so _frustrated _with myself. So I went into her room and just went through her things. It still smelled like her, my father had barely had enough sense to fall onto the couch, let alone make it upstairs into their bedroom to disturb anything." He squeezed her hand and she inhaled shakily. "And there it was, just sitting on her nightstand like she was coming home to read it. So I sat against the headboard and I read."

"Kate." His hoarse whisper paused her, his eyes softer than she'd ever seen them.

She smiled up at him, her eyes watery. "You have a way with words, Castle, there's no denying that. And so I finished it in hours, and went back to her copy of the first. It was dog-eared and highlighted and she had notes in the margin and it was _her_. And then a while later your third came out, and then your fourth and your fifth and I bought them all. Because that's what my mom would have done and I felt closer to her that way, _you _brought me closer to her even after she was gone. And you have no idea-" She ended her sentence with a loud exhale, got up on her knees and straddled his legs, pressing her lips to his fiercely. He let one hand drop to her thigh while the other threaded through the loose hair tickling his cheek.

"Easy, sweetheart." He murmured, not really minding, but feeling the need to pump the brakes nonetheless.

She pulled back breathlessly. "Don't call me sweetheart."

"Whatever you say." He breathed back, pulling her hair from the sloppy bun, struggling for a moment to untangle it without hurting her before taking her lips back.

They're pulled out of their daze by the cat, who bolts from one side of the loft to the other, clawing his way across the coffee table and knocking over most of the contents in the process.

"You little shit." Kate grumbled, even as Rick chuckled lowly into her shoulder. "Damn cat."

They didn't talk much for the rest of the night. Jonah needed help with another art project, and he and Rick had taken over the kitchen table. Alexis called, and Kate promised to meet her for coffee during one of her breaks the next day for the teenager to vent. As she sunk into her favorite chair and listened to the sounds of her son and her…Castle, working together in the kitchen, she felt herself closing her eyes. Shithead jumped into her lap, and the steady purring combined with the soft laughter lulled her to sleep.

Late that night, after he'd carried her to bed despite her sleepy threats of shooting him, he made a decision. With Kate's back turned to him, he started gently tracing patterns on her bare skin. Her breath hitched, letting him know that she was still awake, although the extent of her alertness was debatable. After a moment, he inhaled slowly and was filled with purpose.

A long vertical line down the middle, followed by two horizontal ones under her neck and across lower back.

Another long line, further to the left, with a horizontal line at the bottom.

An oval.

Two slanted lines, meeting near the base of her spine at a single point.

Another long line, with three small ones branching off.

Kate's eyes had popped open when he had started, feeling him shift behind her intently. Usually it meant he was about to pull her towards him for _more_. But now, moisture forced her to close them as she realized what he was doing. What he was spelling. Her heart pounded and clenched, her fingers squeezing the sheets as she let him finish. The lines and ovals continued for a few more moments, before his hand settled warmly on her hip and he let out a deep breath. She focused on his finger rubbing against the bone before slowly turning over, his hand helping her along and tugging her closer.

Even in the dark, she could tell his pupils were blown wide. His face was stone serious, not a trace of his normal, teasing demeanor. His other hand went to her face, gently tracing around her eyes and nose, finally down to her lips, which he swiped over with his thumb softly. She opened her mouth, gently teasing the pad with her teeth before releasing it as he continued to the back of her neck, pulling her fully against him.

She laid her forehead against his collarbone, pressing a kiss there as his hands went to cradle her against him. He didn't say anything, for which she was grateful. She wasn't sure how actually hearing the words would bode for her fragile state. Words she wanted to say herself but got caught in her throat, seizing her chest in panic as she thought about what such a declaration would mean for _everything _between them. He soothed her oh so gently though, hands smoothing down her back and rubbing in all the places he'd learned that relaxed her. And with her head pillowed against his upper arm she closed her eyes, entwining their hands as she slowly drifted off.

XxXxXxXxX


End file.
